Civil society groups in southeastern Türkiye staged a protest Friday against Israel’s attacks on Gaza, gathering outside Şakir Nuhoğlu Mosque in Mardin’s central Artuklu district.
Representatives and members of several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) carried Palestinian flags and chanted slogans condemning Israel.
Kadir Üründü, the rotating spokesperson for the Mardin Civil Society Organizations Platform, read a statement on behalf of the group, accusing Israel of ignoring moral and legal limits in its attacks on Gaza.
Üründü said Gaza had been bombarded by air, land and sea, causing deaths, destroying buildings and damaging schools, hospitals and infrastructure. He remarked thousands of Palestinians had been killed or wounded and accused Israel of preventing the treatment of the sick and injured while blocking humanitarian aid.
“The resistance of the people of Gaza and the heavy price they have paid for their just cause will never be forgotten,” Üründü said.
The protest ended with prayers for Palestinians killed in Gaza.
Israeli forces, which have launched multiple wars in the region since, control over half of the Palestinian territory under the cease-fire that took effect on Oct. 10, but Israel's government has expanded that and says it aims to hold 70%.
Israel’s genocidal attack has killed a total of 73,066 Palestinians, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. Despite the cease-fire, few people can get in or out of Gaza.
The ministry announced that 1,053 Palestinians have been killed since the cease-fire as of Tuesday, including over 350 women and children. In recent days, they included a teenage girl on her way to school and a mother with her 1-year-old daughter.
