The Turkish president on Wednesday said no country is safe unless Israel abides by international law, referring to its actions in the Gaza Strip which have continued for more than seven months despite rulings and resolutions against it.
“No state is safe unless Israel accepts international law and considers itself to be bound by it,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech at the Turkish parliament.
“A bare-knuckled Israel is a threat not only to Palestine or Gaza but also to global peace and humanity as a whole,” he said, blasting Israel’s Sunday attack on a refugee camp in Rafah, southern Gaza, which killed at least 45 people and ignited fires that spread quickly through tents and makeshift accommodation.
Erdogan criticized the inability of the international system, including bodies such as the UN to stop the ongoing atrocities in Gaza, where more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed and has led to widespread destruction, displacement, and conditions of famine.
“What are you good for, the UN, if you cannot stop a genocide broadcast live in the 21st century,” he asked.
“The United Nations was unable to protect even its own personnel or aid workers, let alone stop the genocide. Not only did humanity perish in Gaza, but so did the UN with its spirit,” Erdogan said.
Censuring the West for its alleged complicity in the Israeli war on Gaza, the Turkish leader said: “No belief considers it legitimate to burn innocent civilians to death in their tents. The world is watching the barbarism of the vampire known as Netanyahu on a live broadcast.
“The American state, your hands are also stained with blood; European heads of state and government, you have become complicit in Israel’s barbarism as you have remained silent,” he said.
Erdogan said values such as “democracy, human rights, freedom of speech and press, women’s and children’s rights” have perished due to the “death of humanity” in Gaza.
The president said Israel’s “genocide, atrocity and barbarism” must be stopped by a “united alliance of humanity before Netanyahu and his murderer network spiral out of control.”
“Zionism is being unmasked all over the world,” he said. “Young people are beginning to see how Zionism is an unlawful perversion, and I hope this revolution will free the world from Zionist perversion.”
President Erdogan said “Israel is attempting to exert pressure on the Court of Justice and judges” arguing that it “must be prevented from destroying the last vestige of faith in the manifestation of justice.”
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
On the Islamic world’s role on the Gaza conflict, the Turkish president said: “I have a few words to say to the Islamic world from here: What are you waiting for to reach a joint decision? Allah will hold you, all of us, accountable for this.”
“When will the Organization of Islamic Cooperation implement effective, preventative policy to stop Israel’s genocide,” he asked. “When will the global Islamic community safeguard the rights, lives, and dignity of Palestinian brothers and sisters?”
Source: Anadolu Agency
