Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that no country in the region will feel completely safe as long as Israel seeks to achieve its security by occupying more lands.
This came in a speech during his participation in the graduation ceremony of a batch of staff officers at the National Defense University in Istanbul.
President Erdogan stressed that what has been happening in the Gaza Strip since October 7 is not a war, “but outright genocide.”
He stated that words are no longer sufficient to describe the massacre taking place in Gaza.
The Turkish President pointed out that about 40,000 innocent Palestinians, including 16,000 children, were martyred, and nearly 90,000 innocent people were injured.
He pointed out that about three-quarters of the Gaza Strip had turned into piles of rubble due to Israeli attacks directly targeting civilian residential communities.
Erdogan added: “Any principles, rules and red lines regarding the law of war were not observed, and were even deliberately violated.”
He added: “As long as Israel seeks to achieve its security by occupying more lands, no country in our region, including Turkey, will feel completely safe.”
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He stressed that Turkey is making intensive efforts to ensure a ceasefire in Gaza and pave the way for lasting peace.
Erdogan expressed Turkey’s desire “for a ceasefire to be announced in Gaza as soon as possible and for the residents of the Gaza Strip to breathe a sigh of relief, even if just a little.”
He pointed out that he clearly expressed to his counterparts during the recent NATO summit in Washington that more pressure should be exerted on the Israeli government.
He added: “We emphasized in every meeting that NATO cannot ignore the Gaza crisis and that the consequences of that will be very dire.”
President Erdogan also touched on the fight against the separatist terrorist organization PKK.
He pointed out that Turkey had directed strong strikes at the terrorist organization.
President Erdogan stressed that the local weapons system contributes significantly to the fight against terrorism.
He pointed out that the separatist organization has become unable to move within Turkey’s borders and has become completely besieged.
