President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday blasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, saying the Israeli premier has “surpassed Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler" with attacks that have killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in nearly 20 months.
"Whoever remains silent about genocide in Gaza is complicit in the crimes against humanity committed by Israel," Erdoğan told the opening ceremony of the 17th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF 2025) at the Istanbul Expo Center in Istanbul.
"The plight of children in Gaza, who are skin and bones from hunger because humanitarian aid is not allowed in, is also our plight," he said. “No one with even a shred of human dignity can accept this cruelty (in Gaza), where dozens of innocent people die every day due to lack of bread or water.”
Türkiye’s goal is to establish a cease-fire as soon as possible, he said, adding that allowing humanitarian aid to enter Gaza is another priority.
"In these dark days, when mass deaths from hunger have begun, I call on the entire international community to unite on the side of humanity," Erdoğan stressed.
Despite international calls for a cease-fire, the Israeli army has pursued a genocidal war on Gaza, killing more than 59,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, since October 2023. Relentless bombing has destroyed the enclave, almost collapsed the health system and created famine-like conditions.
Last November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) 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 (ICJ) for its war on the enclave.
NATO member Türkiye has been a traditional ally to Palestine, but the more brutal Israeli attacks became, the harsher Ankara has made its criticism. It has condemned what it calls genocide, halted all trade with Israel in May 2024 and applied to join the genocide case against Israel at the World Court, which Israel rejects.
In addition to delivering humanitarian aid, the Turkish government has sought to rally international organizations, including the United Nations, NATO and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to both restrain Israel and encourage cooperation between Palestinian factions.
Ankara is a firm supporter of the two-state solution with the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as an independent Palestine.
