Parliamentary Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş slammed a proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump to drive Palestinians out of Gaza. Speaking at a news conference on Thursday with the visiting Speaker of the Council of Representatives of Bahrain, Ahmed bin Salman Al Musallam, in the capital, Ankara, Kurtulmuş said it was against international law as well as common sense. “It is a dream that will never be a reality,” Kurtulmuş stated.
Türkiye already joined the growing list of countries that strictly oppose Trump’s bewildering plan to send Palestinians into exile to “clear out” the enclave.
Kurtulmuş criticized the U.S. President’s support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “who is tried in international courts for war crimes.”
“Purging Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank is against human rights, international laws and common sense. Palestinian lands will remain the land of Palestinians forever. Recent developments showed that the world would one day stand against the Promised Land dream of Netanyahu and his gang. The oppression against Palestinians should end, and the ongoing cease-fire should be permanent. It is unreasonable to make the cease-fire more fragile while we are supposed to concentrate on finding a permanent solution to the conflict and delivery of aid to Palestinians,” Kurtulmuş said. He said Türkiye appreciated the reaction of regional countries to Trump’s plan. “All countries committed to human rights, democracy and sovereign equality should say no to this preposterous proposal,” he added.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan strongly rejected Trump’s plans, calling it “an unacceptable imposition.” In a statement on his X account, Fidan said Trump’s proposal was “absurd,” and such discussion was out of the question. He noted that the Palestinian issue began with the forced exile of Palestinians from their homeland and that the plans to displace them from Gaza forcibly were an unacceptable imposition. “We oppose any steps that would continue the genocide, forced displacement and isolation of Palestinians,” Fidan said, adding that Türkiye would continue to defend the rights of Palestinians tirelessly.
Trump's shock proposal for the U.S. to "take over" Gaza and permanently displace its Palestinian population drew swift condemnation from both American allies and adversaries. Countries, including Russia, China, Germany, Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom, said they continued to support the two-state solution that has formed the basis of Washington's policy in the region for decades, which has held that Gaza would be part of a future Palestinian state that includes the occupied West Bank.
Türkiye is a staunch supporter of the resistance movement Hamas and has repeatedly denounced Israel's "genocide" of Palestinians since 2023. Fidan led the country's diplomatic efforts for a resolution to the Palestine-Israel conflict based on a two-state solution, one with an independent State of Palestine.
