A civil society organization is calling on millions in Istanbul to rally on New Year’s Day for Palestine as Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip nears the 16-month mark.
Turkish Youth Foundation (TÜGVA) President Ibrahim Beşinci said the pro-Palestine rally scheduled to kick off from the Galata Bridge in Istanbul must be spread to the masses to raise awareness about Palestine.
“We cannot enter the new year while there are women and children being killed,” Beşinci told Anadolu Agency (AA).
The rally is organized by the National Will Platform, which brings together 308 civil society organizations.
Beşinci said last year’s pro-Palestine rally must be repeated “since the issue of Palestine is not receiving enough public attention with the recent increase in pro-Israel posts.”
Israel has dropped 85,000 tons of bombs on Gaza in the past 16 months, killing at least 50,000 people, Beşinci pointed out, stressing that people “cannot remain silent” in the face of Israel’s attacks.
“We aim to send a strong message to the world by reiterating our stance in the course of history,” he said.
Thousands attended the pro-Palestine rally last year, which also began at the same bridge spanning the Golden Horn, connecting Istanbul’s two European sides.
Beşinci repeated his call to all citizens to assemble at Galata to “support this stance so that they will not remain spectators to the destruction of a handful of nations trying to protect their lands in the Gaza Strip.”
“People must leave their differences behind to create a loud stance for Palestine,” he said.
Israel has killed more than 45,000 people in Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack by Hamas, reducing the enclave to rubble.
The second year of genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with officials and institutions labeling the attacks and blocking of aid deliveries as a deliberate attempt to destroy a population.
Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 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.
Türkiye is a major opponent of Israel’s brutal campaign amounting to genocide that targets Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere. Ankara views the West as the main enabler of the war crimes committed by the Netanyahu administration with their unconditional support to what President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has previously called a “death machine.”
His government suspended trade relations with Israel last May and applied to join a genocide case at the ICJ against Tel Aviv.