President Erdoğan spoke at the Extraordinary Joint Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League
Addressing the Extraordinary Joint Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League, President Erdoğan said: “It is shameful that the Western countries, which always talk about human rights and freedoms, remain silent in the face of the ongoing massacres in Palestine.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a speech at the Extraordinary Joint Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League.
Expressing his wish for the summit to yield auspicious developments for the Palestinians and the Muslim world, President Erdoğan stated: “With today’s meeting, we as the Islamic world show in a clear manner our solidarity with the Palestinian people. We will consolidate this solidarity message with the decisions we will take and implement.”
“WE ARE FACED WITH A BARBARISM UNPRECEDENTED IN HISTORY”
President Erdoğan stated: “Words fall short of describing what has been occurring in Gaza and Ramallah since October 7. We are faced with a barbarism unprecedented in history in which hospitals, houses of worship, schools, refugee camps and ambulances are bombed and the civilians migrating to the zones called safe are massacred. The children whose innocent bodies lie one after another in hospital corridors; mothers that lose their lives hugging their children whom them cannot get enough of smelling; fathers who search their family members under houses that have turned into rubble; in short, the lives lost in attacks that directly target civilians, all stand witness to the savagery raging on for exactly 36 days. The Israeli administration has been taking the revenge of the October 7 incident, which most of us do not approve of, on Gazan babies and innocent Palestinian kids and women.”
President Erdoğan added: “It is not possible for us to equate the Hamas resistance fighters who defend their homeland with the occupiers. Our brothers and sisters in the West Bank are also negatively affected by the attacks of the Israeli forces and the occupying settlers. 73 percent of the nearly 12 thousand Palestinians massacred in Gaza and Ramallah are women and children according to the United Nations. There is nothing about this state of lunacy that can be justified. It is shameful that the Western countries which always talk about human rights and freedoms remain silent in the face of the ongoing massacres in Palestine. These countries cannot even call on Israel for a ‘ceasefire’ while nearly 12 thousand people have died and almost the entire Gaza has been annihilated.”
“THOSE WHO REMAIN SILENT IN THE FACE OF OPPRESSION ARE AS MUCH AN ACCOMPLICE IN THE BLOODSHED AS THE OPPRESSORS”
Noting that the heads of state and government who held a rally in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack now take no action for Gaza where over 12 thousand people have been massacred, President Erdoğan stated: “This is not only impotence but also cowardice and unscrupulousness. Those who remain silent in the face of oppression are as much an accomplice in the bloodshed as the oppressors. The U.S. and the Western countries have sacrificed all the values they claim to be defending for the Israeli administration’s ambitions. The resolution adopted at the United Nations General Assembly with 121 yes votes show how lonely the Israeli administration and its supporters are.”
Describing the voices rising in all corners of the world against the Israeli massacres as a source of hope, President Erdoğan stated: “We expect the administrations supporting Israel to give ear to this outcry. As different than other crises, the Islamic world has this time taken a stance in solidarity and unity. I particularly congratulate the countries working, just like us, to stop the conflicts and deliver humanitarian aid to the region.”
“HUMANITARIAN AID SHOULD CONTINUE UNINTERRUPTEDLY”
Noting that 10 planeloads of humanitarian aid have been sent to the Al Arish Airport for Gaza in cooperation with Egypt, President Erdoğan went onto say: “Our civilian ship, carrying 666 tons of humanitarian aid supplies, set sail yesterday. It will inshallah have reached the Al Arish Port today. Our works also continue for the treatment of the wounded, particularly cancer patients and children. Likewise, our preparations are underway for the meeting to be held under my wife’s auspices with the participation of the spouses of heads of state and government in Istanbul on November 15. In the current phase, our first priority is the declaration of ceasefire and the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid. What is urgently needed is not a few hour-long pauses but a permanent ceasefire. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, describes Israel’s decision to allow a four-hour humanitarian pause as very cynical and cruel. We view the decision in question similarly.”
President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: “Humanitarian aid should continue uninterruptedly. It is vital to deliver fuel to places in urgent need, particularly hospitals. The spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs likens Gaza’s north, where humanitarian aid trucks cannot deliver aid supplies, to hell. All the members of the OIC should lend the necessary support to our Egyptian brothers in a bid to keep open the Rafah Border Crossing. We should also make endeavors to hold Israel to account before law for the war crimes and the crimes against humanity it commits. These must be investigated and the required actions should be taken about the culprits by the UN Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court. In a similar manner, the nuclear weapons, the existence of which Israeli ministers acknowledge, must be investigated, and if there are any that may have evaded international control, they must be disclosed.”
“WE BELIEVE THAT A FUND SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION OF ISLAMIC COOPERATION TO REBUILD GAZA”
Stressing that such an issue which has the potential to put at risk the future of not only the region but of the whole humanity, President Erdoğan said: “Another critical issue is the reparations. The factor that makes Israel more reckless every time is that it doesn’t pay reparations to the people whom it oppresses and whose lands it occupies and annihilates. The Israeli government, which behaves like the spoiled child of the West, is obligated to make amends for the harm it has caused. Until this happens, we as the Islamic world cannot leave our Palestinian brothers and sisters unprotected and helpless. We believe that a fund should be established within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to rebuild Gaza.”
Stressing that Türkiye will never refrain from providing every kind of support for Gaza’s revival and reconstruction, President Erdoğan stated: “It is important that we turn this crisis into an instrument of permanent solution of the Palestinian issue. As long as the Palestine issue is neglected, normalization efforts in the region are doomed to fail. And the way to a permanent solution is through the elimination of the main causes. This can be achieved only if a sovereign and geographically integrated State of Palestine, with Al-Quds as its capital, is established within the 1967 borders. We are of the opinion that the International Peace Conference, which we have put forward, serves as the best platform in this direction. It also appears that new mechanisms are necessary to ensure the security of our Palestinian brothers and sisters. We are ready to make the necessary efforts, including as a guarantor, to maintain the peace that will be established.”
“IT IS OUR WISH THAT AL QUDS AND ALL PALESTINIAN LANDS RETURN TO THEIR OLD DAYS”
“Lasting peace will ensure calm and welfare not only for the Palestinians but for the entire region, including the Israeli people. We should also be on high alert against the violation of the sanctity and the historical status of Al Haram Al Sharif, which also houses our first qiblah, Al Aqsa Mosque. It is highly probable for Israel to take advantage of the ongoing incidents to engage in faits accomplis regarding Al Haram Al Sharif. This is best evidenced by the delusions of ‘promised lands’ that threaten the territorial integrity of many countries in the region, Türkiye included. As I always say, Al Quds is our red line. It is our wish that Al Quds, the city of peace, and all Palestinian lands return to their old days. We hope that our Palestinian brothers and sisters put an end to their disagreements and defend their rights in unity and solidarity.”
