Türkiye’s president on Saturday welcomed the recent International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defense chief, emphasizing that enforcing the decision would be key in restoring confidence in the international system.
“We consider the implementation of this courageous decision by all parties to the (ICC) agreement important for restoring humanity’s trust in the international system,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in an address at the fourth International NGO Fair in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul.
Hailing the arrest warrants, issued Thursday by the ICC for Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over Israel’s actions in Gaza, Erdoğan asserted that countries supporting Tel Aviv were “fueling atrocities,” despite often “lecturing” others on democracy and human rights.
In the landmark move, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
As for international organizations and media, Erdoğan said they were turning “a blind eye to crimes against humanity” in Palestine, Lebanon, and elsewhere.
“The blood of those martyred and injured in Palestine stains not only their killers but also those who fail to stop them,” he added.
Voicing hope to see the establishment of an independent, and sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, Erdoğan called on the Islamic world to put differences aside, take a joint stance and act as one. “Unless hearts beat collectively, there can be no success against the aggressors and observers,” he said.
“This is the only way we can help our Palestinian and Lebanese brothers and sisters, the innocent and oppressed in Sudan, Yemen and many other countries.”
The Turkish president said NGOs should strengthen their enforcement mechanisms and increase the harmony between each other.
Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in October last year, killing more than 44,000 people, most of them women and children, and injuring over 104,000.
It has also engaged in cross-border warfare with Lebanon, launching an air campaign in late September against what it claims are Hezbollah targets. Over 3,600 people have been killed, with more than 15,300 injured and over a million displaced since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.