Addressing an event of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lamented the collapse of the global system over its inaction in the face of the Gaza crisis. He accused Western countries of being accomplices in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.
Erdoğan also reiterated his criticism of the U.S. hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Congress. “Perpetrators of genocide should be in court,” he said.
The president spoke at a program for human rights education hosted by the AK Party and criticized the current state of the world in terms of human rights violations. "The international politics are on a sharp curve. We see a power vacuum in the international system which becomes more obvious day by day. Bloodshed, oppression and conflicts are now a routine for the world while norms, institutions that mankind established for its own security are losing their clout. We are witnessing the collapse of the rule-based system that mankind built after bitter experiences," he said. "No steps are taken to reverse this process. (The international community) did not learn its lesson from the invasion of Iraq, from conflict in Syria or the Russia-Ukraine war," Erdoğan said.
Türkiye is a supporter of the Palestinian cause, an independent State of Palestine, and escalated its opposition to the Netanyahu administration after the new round of Palestine-Israel conflict erupted last October. Erdoğan has repeatedly called for more efforts to ensure a cease-fire between the sides but Israel's aggression in the Gaza Strip continues unabatedly. Türkiye blames the steadfast support to Netanyahu by the West for the failure to end the conflict.
"The Gaza crisis is the end of the global system. It unmasked international institutions and showed us that those so-called exemplary international bodies are weak in fact," he said.
"The West is an accomplice of Israel. They do not hide their support. On the contrary, they applaud killers incessantly," he said, in reference to the standing ovation for minutes for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month at the U.S. Congress as he defended the killing of Palestinians and sought to curry more support from Washington. "History will record your stand. Those giving a standing ovation to the lies of Netanyahu, the Hitler of the modern era, cannot wash off this stain from their hands. Those cheering (Netanyahu) while trampling on the tragic memory of the oppressed will not be forgiven," he said.
Erdoğan said Türkiye was only endeavoring candidly to pass this test for humanity. "Perpetrators of genocide should not be in the pulpits of parliaments. They belong to courtrooms where they should be held accountable for crimes they committed. It is beyond words that a person is given red-carpet treatment while the fact that he was responsible for the killings of 40,000 people is ignored," he said.
The president also spoke about the "martyrdom" of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and reiterated his condolences to the people of Palestine. "He lost many relatives but he never lost the smile on his face. Everyone who knows him knows he is a brave man of his cause," he said.
Erdoğan also touched upon the issue of closure of social media platform Instagram in the country since last week. "Social media platforms act like the mafia, has double standards against Türkiye, we face digital fascism which cannot tolerate photos of Palestinian martyrs," he said.
Turkish authorities have blocked access to Instagram over what some reports attributed to the social media platform's removal of condolences posts over Israel's assassination of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The president stated that social media companies were acting like the "mafia" on matters that hurt their interests. He reiterated that they gave free rein to supporters of terrorist groups, from the PKK to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) despite repeated warnings of Türkiye, and gave a platform to insults targeting the faith of the nation. "They spare the attention they paid (to moderation of their content) in the United States and Europe when it comes to Türkiye and they do it deliberately," he said. Erdoğan added that Türkiye has not seen the cooperation it expected from social media companies yet. "If they respect Türkiye's sensitivities, the matter will be settled," he said.
