Turkey: Opposition CHP leader condemns massacre in Gaza

By Yasemin Kalyoncuoglu

ANKARA

The leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu condemned the U.S. and Israel administrations over violence against Palestinian protesters on the day the U.S. embassy relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Kilicdaroglu, in a Twitter post, said he condemned the "massacre" taking place in Gaza.

"Before the eyes of the U.S. administration, the cruelty of the Israeli administration in the Middle East is a crime against humanity. I condemn the massacre in Gaza and condemn the U.S. and Israeli administrations. We stand with the oppressed Palestinian people," he wrote.

At least 52 Palestinian demonstrators were martyred Monday -- and hundreds more injured -- by Israeli army forces deployed along the other side of the border, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

CHP spokesman Bulent Tezcan, in a press meeting, described the events as a "shame on humanity".

"There is a massacre going on in Gaza. We condemn this massacre. A shame on humanity is being displayed right now," he said.

CHP parliament deputy group chairman Ozgur Ozel, also in a news conference, said "a process began" with the U.S. relocating its embassy to Jerusalem, "which we worry [will plunge] the Middle East into bloodshed".

Trump sparked international outcry last December when he unilaterally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and vowed to relocate Washington's embassy to the city

The embassy relocation coincides with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s establishment in 1948 -- an event Palestinians refer to as the “Nakba” or the “The Catastrophe”.

Thousands of Palestinians have gathered on Gaza Strip’s eastern border since early Monday morning to take part in protests aimed to commemorate the Nakba anniversary and protest relocating the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.