Erdogan said, among other things, that Israel was just “a pawn” in the region that would be sacrificed “when the day comes.” The country is committing “war crimes”. At the same time, he accused “Western governments” of being primarily responsible for the “massacres” in the Gaza Strip.
The Turkish head of state had already described the Islamic Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, as “freedom fighters”. The US, Europe and Israel classify Hamas as a terrorist organization, but Turkey does not. Ankara maintains contacts with Hamas and claims to be trying to free hostages from the Gaza Strip.
In recent weeks, Turkey has repeatedly expressed sharp criticism of Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ brutal massacre in Israeli border towns on October 7.