Türkiye conducts multi-faceted diplomacy to reestablish ceasefire in Gaza: President Erdogan

ISTANBUL

Türkiye is conducting multi-faceted diplomatic efforts to reestablish a ceasefire and to end massacres in Gaza, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday, stressing that Ankara will continue to increase these efforts ahead of the Eid al-Fitr.

None of those who teach the world about human rights and freedoms have yet reacted to "the vile killing of babies in their cradle" in Gaza, Erdogan said at an iftar (fast-breaking) dinner in Istanbul.

"Many countries of the world, especially Western governments, are indifferent to the barbarism in Gaza," Erdogan said.

"Gaza and Palestine are the most painful witnesses of how those who talk about rights and law divide people according to the color of their skin and their beliefs. Pay attention, when the oppressed is Palestinian and the oppressor is Israeli, the language used suddenly changed," he added.

Stressing that Türkiye will continue to defend the Palestinian cause, Erdogan expressed hope that, just like in Syria, "these dark days of oppression" in Gaza will end.

More than 700 Palestinians were killed and over 1,000 others injured in a surprise aerial campaign by Israel on Gaza since Tuesday, shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.

Nearly 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 112,000 injured in a brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 2023.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.