U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza and “take over” the territory would only be a “complete atrocity,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said as he repeated his rebuke of Trump’s shocking policy.
“It’s impossible to accept the forced displacement. It would be a complete atrocity,” Erdoğan said, according to a transcript of comments to journalists on a return flight from his tour of Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan.
He said the Trump administration was making "wrong calculations" regarding the Middle East, adding that heeding "Zionist lies" would only exacerbate conflicts.
Türkiye has rejected Trump’s plan to remove more than 2 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, claim U.S. control of it and turn it into the "Riviera of the Middle East." It has also said Israel's assault on Gaza amounted to a genocide while calling for international measures against its government.
"Unfortunately, the United States is making a wrong calculation about our region. One should not be engaged in an approach that disregards the region's history, values and accumulation," he said.
Erdoğan said he expected Trump to realize his election campaign promises of taking steps for peace rather than creating new conflicts.
He said he saw no real signs of a cease-fire in Gaza despite a truce agreement between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Since the cease-fire was announced on Jan. 19, Israel has bombed east of Rafah, demolished Palestinian homes in regions it withdrew from and directly killed 92 Palestinians in Gaza, Erdoğan said, adding that this shows Israel does “not aim to make the cease-fire permanent.”
“Hamas has led the process by keeping its promises so far. It’s Israel, as always, whose word cannot be trusted,” Erdoğan said.
The truce has been under heightened pressure since Trump’s takeover proposal.
Hamas earlier this week said it would pause hostage releases over apparent Israeli violations of the truce. It accused Israel of holding up the delivery of humanitarian aid and heavy machinery needed to clear war debris, with bulldozers reportedly lining up at Egypt's Rafah border crossing with Gaza waiting to enter.
The group has since reiterated its commitment to the cease-fire and to carrying out the next exchange "according to the specified timetable."
The cease-fire's six-week first phase has seen Israeli captives released in small groups in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody.
Türkiye is a staunch supporter of Hamas, which it describes as a resistance movement, unlike the Western countries, which mostly define it as a terrorist group, and hosted its political leaders several times to discuss cease-fire efforts and the humanitarian aid crisis in the blockaded enclave.
Erdoğan said footage of hostage exchanges in Gaza showed Hamas remained “psychologically strong,” adding that the developments following swaps should be closely watched and efforts to resume negotiations for peace should continue.
He praised statements of support from the leaders of Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan he met throughout the week.
“Gaza is a wound in our hearts we are working tirelessly to heal,” Erdoğan said.
“Sadly, the Islamic world has yet to take collective action on this issue,” he added, an issue he often raises with allies and on international platforms.
Muslim nations must compensate for their deficits on this issue, Erdoğan continued.
Qatar is sending construction equipment to Gaza, likely purchased from Egypt to clear the debris there, Erdoğan said, which he noted was relevant to the situation in neighboring Syria, as well, after nearly 14 years of civil war.
“Syria, too, is in grave need of construction equipment. Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa too has demanded this of us,” Erdoğan said.
Syria’s interim president was in Ankara last week to meet with Erdoğan and discuss steps for rebuilding his country after an anti-regime coalition he led ousted Bashar Assad in December.
“We need equipment so we can clear the debris and then swiftly begin a reconstruction and recovery process in both Syria and Gaza,” Erdoğan said.
Ankara, which backed the former Syrian opposition during the civil war and one of the first to reopen its Damascus embassy after Assad’s fall, has repeatedly said it would help the new Syrian administration rebuild and form a state structure and a new constitution, which al-Sharaa’s administration has welcomed.
Erdoğan also said Türkiye sees the new Syrian administration as “determined” in the fight against terrorism.
“Many armed groups there are disbanding themselves. Terrorist groups must understand they have no room in Syria. Otherwise, we will not refrain from taking action to show them this fact,” Erdoğan said, repeating Türkiye’s threat of a new offensive against the terrorists in northern Syria.
Türkiye has offered to help Syria fight terrorist groups like Daesh and PKK/YPG, still active in the country’s northern regions, where Ankara launched several cross-border operations between 2016 and 2019 to protect civilians and support Syrian opposition forces.
The YPG is the extension of the PKK terrorist organization, which has killed thousands in Türkiye since the 1980s and carved out a self-styled autonomous entity for itself in Syria's northeast as the civil war raged in Türkiye's southern neighbor. The group maintains strongholds in northern Iraq and Syria to create a self-styled “Kurdish state.”
“We have made our stance firm to the Syrian administration on terrorist groups,” Erdoğan said. “We have also warned the terrorist groups. They either heed our call, or we will bury them in their hideouts.”
On upcoming talks between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on a potential end to the war in Ukraine, Erdoğan said he hoped the meeting would pave the way to a "positive outcome."
"If a positive outcome can be achieved from this meeting, as we hope in good faith, then the world will take a very different step forward," he said.
