Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has delivered a fiery speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and calling on the international community to act urgently to end the bloodshed.
“In front of every one of us, a genocide has been going on in Gaza for more than 700 days,” Erdogan declared on Tuesday.
“For the last 23 months, Israel has killed one child every hour. These are not numbers; each one is a life, an innocent person.”
Erdogan said the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza was unparalleled in modern history, describing children as young as two or three losing their limbs without anaesthesia.
“This is the lowest point of humanity,” he told world leaders. “There is no war in Gaza, there are no two sides. This is an invasion, a genocide, a policy of mass massacre.”
‘I speak on behalf of the Palestinian people’
The Turkish president thanked countries that have recognised the State of Palestine and urged others to “act without delay.”
He expressed regret that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was not present in New York, stressing that Türkiye speaks “on behalf of the Palestinian people, whose voices are being silenced.”
Erdogan called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, unfettered humanitarian access, and accountability for what he described as Israel’s “genocide crew.”
He accused Israel of expanding its aggression beyond Gaza and the occupied West Bank to Syria, Iran, Yemen, Lebanon and Qatar, threatening wider regional stability.
“Obsessed with the idea of a promised land, the Israeli administration is undermining regional peace and humanity’s common achievements with its expansionist policy,” Erdogan said, adding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has no intent for peace or freeing hostages.”
‘Stand with the oppressed Palestinians’
The Turkish leader urged world leaders to stand “firmly with the oppressed Palestinians today in the name of humanity,” arguing that Israeli attacks have erased the most basic human rights, including women’s and children’s rights, freedom of expression, equality, and justice.
“Can there be peace in a world where children die from hunger and lack of medicine?” Erdogan asked. “Humanity has not witnessed such brutality in the last century.”
