Israel's aggression is exacting a heavy toll not only on Palestinians and Lebanese but also on people of different faiths across the region, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, warning that the consequences of Israel's violations are being felt far beyond its immediate victims.
"The price of Israel's aggression is being paid not only by our Palestinian and Lebanese brothers and sisters, but by the entire region and people of different faiths," he told a news conference after a Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara.
"Israel is step by step occupying Palestinian lands by disregarding fundamental human rights in the region and trampling international law underfoot," Erdoğan said.
The remarks came after an Israeli media report said Israeli forces had illegally seized land under Palestinian Authority administration in the occupied West Bank to connect two illegal Israeli settlements, further expanding settlement infrastructure on occupied Palestinian territory. Under the Oslo Accords, Area A falls under Palestinian civil and security control, while Israeli law prohibits Israeli settlers from entering the area. Palestinian rights groups and Israeli watchdogs have warned that the placement of the new settlements is intended to erode the framework established by the Oslo Accords.
Meanwhile, Erdoğan said that ending terrorism would lift a decades-long economic burden on Türkiye.
"When calculated in terms of investment, employment, tourism, agriculture, financing and security, the average annual cost of terrorism exceeds $50 billion," Erdoğan said.
He said eliminating terrorism would unlock Türkiye's economic potential across multiple sectors.
"Once the obstacle of terrorism is removed, Türkiye's economy will begin writing a new story in every field," he said.
Erdoğan also said the government's "Terror-Free Türkiye" initiative would deliver both security and economic gains.
"When the Terror-Free Türkiye process reaches its goal, mothers will not only lay their heads on their pillows with peace of mind, but our country will also be freed from this heavy economic burden," he said.
On Cyprus, Erdoğan reiterated that the issue centers on the Turkish Cypriot people's sovereign equality and equal international status rather than a technical power-sharing dispute.
"No initiative that ignores the Turkish Cypriots' sovereign equality, inherent rights and legitimate interests in the Eastern Mediterranean has any chance of succeeding," he said.
Welcoming U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' recent visit to the island, Erdoğan said formulas that seek to reduce Turkish Cypriots to minority status have repeatedly failed and stressed that lasting peace can only be achieved through a fair, permanent and sustainable settlement.
Marking the anniversary of the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation, Erdoğan said Türkiye exercised its guarantor rights to end the suffering of Turkish Cypriots and help establish peace and stability on the island. He added that Ankara would continue supporting the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and would never leave Turkish Cypriots alone.
