President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday warned that Israel aims to destroy Palestinian existence and ultimately annex all Palestinian territories with its brutal attacks, which have killed at least 44,000 Palestinians since last year.
“Israel’s relentless offensive on the Gaza Strip and increasing crackdown on Palestinians in occupied West Bank are proof this is where the situation is headed, Erdoğan told an extraordinary summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh.
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 Erdoğan has previously called a “death machine.”
Erdoğan, who defends a two-state solution with 1967 borders for the Israel-Palestine conflict, said the Israeli parliament banning the U.N. aid agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, is meant to “eliminate a two-state solution and prevent the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland.”
“We see the futility of a two-state solution by seeking the Israeli government’s consent,” he said.
The Turkish president lashed out at a “handful of Western nations supplying Israel with every form of support, from political to economic, military to moral support, while the failure of Muslim countries to respond adequately has allowed the situation to reach this point.”
“We must maintain our coordinated efforts to pressuring measures against those committing genocide in Palestine,” Erdoğan said, stressing that differences of opinion between Muslim nations “cannot be a drawback.”
“Muslim states must spearhead steps that can be taken to stop Israel,” he continued, repeating his call for an arms embargo and trade halt on Israel.
“It’s vital that Israel is isolated in the international arena until its aggression ends,” Erdoğan said.
Ankara cut off trade with Israel in April and joined a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), launched by South Africa, over its war crimes in Gaza.
Erdoğan urged fellow Muslim states to follow suit and said Türkiye is “ready to implement all tangible actions that will show the heavy cost of Netanyahu government’s continued occupation of Palestinian territory.”
He called on more countries to recognize the state of Palestine and said he wishes to “see Palestine as a member of the U.N. Security Council one day.”
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023.
The Israeli onslaught has killed 43,550 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 102,700 others, displacing almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine. More than 780 Palestinians have been killed and over 6,300 injured by Israeli army fire in occupied Palestinian territories in the same period.
Mediation efforts led by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas have failed over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to halt his war.
The OIC-Arab League summit is reviewing the implementation of resolutions adopted last year and is expected to yield new measures calling for an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Lebanon.
One of last year’s key outcomes was forming a Gaza Contact Group, comprising Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Palestine, Indonesia and Nigeria, to address the crisis in the Palestinian enclave.
The group has since conducted international visits and engaged with global organizations, advocating for a two-state solution and increasing awareness of Palestinian issues.