Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday lashed out at the UN and called on the “Islamic world” to respond after Israel’s latest deadly strikes on the Gaza Strip, The Guardian reports.
Erdogan told lawmakers from his AKP party:
“The UN cannot even protect its own staff. What are you waiting for to act? The spirit of the United Nations is dead in Gaza.”
Erdogan’s comments came as the UN security council met to discuss a deadly Israeli attack on a displacement camp west of Rafah on Tuesday that killed 21 people, according to a civil defence official in Hamas-run Gaza.
Erdogan also hit out at fellow Muslim-majority countries for failing to take common action over the Israeli strike. Erdoğan, who leads a Muslim-majority country of 85 million people, told lawmakers from his AKP party:
“I have some words to say to the Islamic world: what are you waiting for to take a common decision? Israel is not just a threat to Gaza but to all of humanity. No state is safe as long as Israel does not follow international law and does not feel bound by international law.”
Israel is committing “genocide”, Erdogan says
The Turkish president repeated again an accusation that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza. He also added:
“No Europeans should henceforth come out and talk to us about democracy, human rights, freedom of expression and freedom of the press while arrogantly wagging his finger.”
He questioned the need to reform the world order: if the future of the world depends on the whims of five countries, why do we need huge buildings like the UN.
Erdogan said it was unacceptable that the process of recognising Palestine as an independent state was being obstructed by some permanent members of the UN Security Council. He said:
“Most of the 193 UN member states recognise Palestine as a state. The collective decision of 147 countries cannot be left to the arbitrary decision of five countries. 147 is bigger than five.”
The president also noted that Israel is trying to put pressure on the International Court of Justice and its judges amid their efforts to hold members of the Israeli government accountable for crimes in Gaza. He added:
“Israel must be prevented from destroying the last vestiges of faith in justice.”
In his speech, Erdogan also hailed the student movement spreading around the world in support of Palestine. He concluded:
“Young people have begun to realise what a heresy Zionism is that does not recognise rules. I hope this revolution will contribute to the formation of a world free of Zionist heresy.”
Earlier, the UN has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. However, Israel has rejected every call for a ceasefire by the UN General Assembly, promising to destroy Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s adviser Dmitry Gendelman also said the country would not recognise the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose prosecutor plans to seek an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister.
