A ruling party official on Thursday said Türkiye is fulfilling its responsibilities on all platforms to ensure Palestinians do not experience a second Nakba, the term referring to the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland during the creation of Israel in 1948.
Speaking at a parliamentary session in Ankara, Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Group Deputy Chair Abdulhamit Gül remarked on Israel’s continued bombardment of the Gaza Strip and military operations in Palestinian territories.
Palestinians mark on May 15 the 77th anniversary of their expulsion from their towns in historical Palestine after Israel’s creation in 1948. These events, which saw thousands of Palestinians killed and hundreds of thousands displaced, are known as the Nakba.
“We are determined to do everything to prevent a second Nakba,” Gül told lawmakers. “Unfortunately, we can also see the world is facing multiple crises and the current system is failing to conjure any solutions.”
“All of humanity has the need for a fair world that is bigger than five,” Gül said, echoing a call for reform in global governance from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in reference to five permanent U.N. Security Council members.
At least 966 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 others injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, according to Palestinian figures.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The decisions, however, have not been enforced.
Meanwhile, Türkiye-Palestine Interparliamentary Friendship Group Chair and AK Party Istanbul lawmaker Hasan Turan said Palestinians would “one day return to the occupied lands.”
Speaking at a press conference at Parliament, Turan said the Nakba was “not only the displacement of a people but also the day when humanity succumbed to Zionism.”
He claimed, “Western imperialism placed Israel into these lands like a dagger to achieve its goals.”
Turan pointed out Israel’s blockade of food into Gaza for the past two months.
“Israel is trying to destroy a people by starving those it could not kill with bombs. It is openly committing genocide,” Turan said. “It’s not only Palestinians being killed in Gaza but also the international order and international organizations. The U.N. and the EU are buried under the rubble.”
The lawmaker also argued that what is unfolding in Gaza has “destroyed all the façade in the world.”
“We believe the story of the new world will be built on what happened in Gaza.”
“Türkiye stands on the right side of history, with the oppressed against their oppressors,” Turan continued. “Today we gathered here to show our will cannot be broken and we have not given up on defending this cause.”
Referring to the PKK terrorist group’s announcement earlier this week that it would disarm and disband, Turan concluded: “We are hopeful about the developments in our region. As we near the end of terrorist organizations, we hope these developments will also be the harbinger of the end of a terrorist state.”
