Israel must not be allowed to violate Gaza cease-fire: President Erdogan
Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during the AK Party’s 8th Ordinary Provincial Congress at Serinevler Sports Hall in Adana, Türkiye on January 18, 2025. (TUR Presidency/ Mustafa Oztartan-Anadolu Agency)
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday criticized Israel’s history of ceasefire violations, urging the international community to prevent further breaches amid the Gaza cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.
“Israel, (particularly Premier Benjamin) Netanyahu, has a significant record of ceasefire violations; this should not be allowed this time (in Gaza),” Erdogan told his party’s provincial congress in Adana, southern Türkiye.
He condemned Israel’s 467-day offensive in Gaza, which caused over 47,000 fatalities, saying: “Despite 467 days of genocide and massacres, Israel has failed to break the will of resistance of our brothers and sisters in Gaza.”
Erdogan reaffirmed Türkiye’s commitment to holding perpetrators of war crimes in Palestine accountable. “Our efforts to hold the perpetrators of war and crimes against humanity to account one by one will continue to intensify,” he said.
Türkiye will mobilize by all means to heal the wounds of Gaza during the ceasefire period, Erdogan added.
On Wednesday, Qatar announced a three-phase ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas to end more than 15 months of deadly Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, with the ceasefire set to take effect on Sunday at 6:30 GMT.
On Syria, Erdogan said Israel’s “project to divide Syria into three parts, turning it into pieces that are easy to swallow, has collapsed.”
He emphasized Türkiye’s support for voluntary refugee returns while opposing any forced repatriation.
