President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Türkiye will lodge a legal complaint with over 2,000 lawyers to relevant authorities regarding Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“With over 2,000 lawyers, we will file a complaint about this genocide to relevant institutions. We will follow up as we cannot give up on this. They have to be held accountable,” Erdoğan told a gathering with a students’ organization in Istanbul on Saturday.
“These crimes definitely need to be followed at the international level, investigated and oppressors must receive necessary punishment,” Erdoğan said, referring to Israel’s incessant attacks on Palestinians in Gaza.
He also criticized the West for its stance on the ongoing conflict in Gaza, where Israeli attacks have killed at least 12,000 Palestinians, more than half of them being women and children.
“West, bound by crusader imperialist ideals, is together. Unfortunately, I witnessed this during my Germany visit. The German president reflects the same mindset,” Erdoğan said. On Friday, he was in Berlin on a day-long visit, where he met Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The German government has repeatedly said Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas and has opposed calls for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, arguing that it will give a respite to the Palestinian group.
Erdoğan said he told Scholz that Ankara was saddened to see Germany as one of the countries that abstained from a U.N. General Assembly resolution that called for a humanitarian truce in Gaza.
The 193-member world body adopted on Oct. 27 the non-binding resolution by a vote of 120-14 with 45 abstentions. France voted for the measure; Germany, Italy and the U.K. abstained, while Austria and the U.S. voted against it.
The president also said he told German officials that Israel has almost 10,000 Palestinian hostages and that Germany should take a step for their release. At the same time, Türkiye tries to mediate the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
