President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an “infidel” and a “tyrant,” declaring that the Muslim world cannot stand by as Palestinians in Gaza face oppression.
"This is why, wherever there is a Muslim in the world, our hearts, our minds, and our souls are with them. This is why we see all Muslims as parts of one body, like the teeth of a comb, like the bricks of a building. That is why we are in Palestine right now. That is why we are in Gaza right now. That is why we can never remain spectators to what is happening in Palestine, to this uprising of that tyrant, that infidel called Netanyahu," Erdoğan said during his address at an opening event of Mawlid al-Nabi Week.
Mawlid al-Nabi, the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, is celebrated on the twelfth day of the Islamic month Rabi' al-Awwal.
"If half of our heart is here, the other half is in Gaza, in Palestine, in Yemen, Sudan and Afghanistan – the bleeding wounds of the Islamic world. In the prayers we make tonight, we will not forget the oppressed and the wronged, wherever they may live. We will raise our hands to the heavens for them as well. We will soak our prayer rugs with our tears for them, too," he said.
"We are not in despair, and we will not fall into despair. We are not pessimistic and we will not be. Despite the injustices, the oppression and the cruelty in our lands, we will never give in to hopelessness," he added.
Influential NATO member Türkiye has fiercely criticized Israel over its actions in Gaza and says it is committing genocide there. It has halted all trade with Israel, called for international measures against it and has repeatedly urged world powers to stop supporting Israel.
Since last week, Türkiye has also been calling for Israel to be suspended from international organizations, including the U.N. General Assembly.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan first made the call during an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, saying recent Western pledges on the recognition of a Palestinian state showed the "tide is turning against Israel," but that further measures were needed.
He said a coordinated, joint effort within the U.N. was needed to push "for Palestine's full membership, while also considering the suspension of Israel from the work of the General Assembly."
Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş repeated that call during an extraordinary parliamentary session on Gaza last week, saying Israel must be suspended from international organizations until it ends its "genocidal policies.”
Hamas agreed to a mediator-backed proposal for a partial cease-fire and a prisoner swap in Gaza last month, but Israel has yet to respond despite its terms aligning with a previous offer put forward by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, which Tel Aviv had already accepted.
Instead, Netanyahu is pushing for the occupation of Gaza City under the pretext of freeing captives and defeating Hamas, a move widely doubted by opponents and former officials, with the Israeli military itself warning that the operation poses a grave risk to the lives of the captives.
The Israeli army has launched a brutal military offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 63,700 Palestinians. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
