Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the United Nations and Israel in his address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, to which Israel is an observe r state, claiming that ‘Israel has turned Gaza into the world’s largest children and women burial ground’. He lamented that the UN has not acted and urged the UN to order an immediate cease-fire to put an end to the increasing bloodshed.

They are dying in Gaza – children and the United Nations system.” The values that the West says it stands for are dying. The possibilities of a fairer world for people to live in are dying – one by one,” Erdogan urged the international community. 

Harsh criticism of Israel

The author firmly stands on their view regarding the behaviour of Israelis towards the Palestinians and excessively criticises the state of Israel.

Erdogan, who has been critical of Israel’s military operation in the Gaza strip, attacked Netanyahu’s government, accusing it of contributing to the creation of more turmoil in the Middle East. He compared Netanyahu to Hitler and demanded the world form a coalition to stop what he said was “A murder-inciting network.”

“Just as Hitler was stopped by the alliance of humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must be stopped by the ‘alliance of humanity’,” Erdogan said. Peace envoy Martin disperses called for a cessation of hostilities in the occupied territories now in the wake of the deaths of over 41000 Palestinians in the Middle East On 20 November 2006.

Requests for End to Hostilities and to Provide Assistance

Erdogan demanded an ‘immediate and unconditional stop’ to hostilities in Gaza and an ‘unconditional surrender of the gunmen to free the hostages’ as well as another demand for ‘free and unhampered delivery of humanitarian aid’. “The parties should stop fighting right now. The hostages and prisoners must be exchanged. The Gazans people need help; they need food, water, and medicine, and none of those supplies should be denied from entering Gaza,” he said.

This sentiment was familiar to most regional leaders as Erdogan delivered opinions at UNGA. “The blatant aggression that befalls the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip today is the most barbaric, heinous and extensive aggression,” he said, calling the conflict “a crime of genocide”.(More)

Regional and International Response

Like others, the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani also strongly criticised Israel and referred to the continued operation in Gaza as “genocide.” The war he described as a crime of genocide condemned the suffering of the Palestinian people.

Erdogan also expressed support for Lebanon, where a series of Israeli airstrikes targeted Hezbollah. The Turkish president accused the UN Security Council of not acting effectively to prevent the violence and wondered about the absence of the UN in Gaza and Lebanon.

“What are you waiting for the UN Security Council to move and stop the genocide in Gaza and to tell this cruelty and barbarity stop?” Erdogan continued, pointing fingers at countries that blindly back Israel. He advised those countries that they would be left to pay the price of being witness to these “massacres.”

Mr Erdogan’s comments reflect the impatience of several leaders across the globe for the UN to intervene and stop the violence in Gaza and Lebanon. He uses very interventionist language to express a need for the international community to put pressure on the superpowers and get war in the region.