President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan repeated his call for an immediate and permanent cease-fire amid the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, as he addressed the G-20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Monday.
“The famine in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels,” Erdoğan said, adding that 96% of the population in Gaza, in other words, over 2 million people, have no access to food and clean water. The president said Türkiye has provided the blockaded Palestinian enclave with more than 86,000 tons of humanitarian aid, adding that Ankara’s assistance to Lebanon has exceeded 1,300 tons.
Erdoğan is attending the G-20 summit in Brazil, where leaders are discussing global tensions while Türkiye seeks to rally nations against Israeli aggression.
Last week, the president said Türkiye delivered the strongest response to Israel’s actions in Palestine, including halting trade.
Erdoğan also said Ankara’s initiative at the U.N. to prevent the shipment of weapons and ammunition to Israel has been supported by 52 countries and two international organizations.