Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan will join on Saturday what is expected to be one of the largest pro-Palestinian rallies since the Israel-Hamas war began, courting his Islamist political base a day ahead of the centenary of Turkey's secular republic,
Reuters reports.
Political analysts said his planned address in Istanbul aimed to reinforce his growing criticism of Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip and to overshadow Sunday's celebrations marking Turkey's secular roots.
Turkey has condemned Israeli civilian deaths caused by Hamas's Oct. 7 rampage through southern Israel, but Erdogan this week called the militant group Palestinian "freedom fighters".
He also criticised some Western nations' unconditional support for Jerusalem, drawing sharp rebukes from Italy and Israel.
Unlike many NATO allies, the European Union and some Gulf states, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organisation. It has long hosted the Islamist group's members, supports a two-state solution and has offered to play a role in negotiating the release of hostages abducted during the Oct. 7 assault.
Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and director of the Centre for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies, an Istanbul-based think-tank, said Gaza's worsening humanitarian crisis and pressure from political allies had prompted Erdogan to sharpen his rhetoric.
Turkey "will protect its principles and share these with the international community, but it needs to do this with a more delicate diplomacy if it expects to play such a (future) diplomatic role," Ulgen said.
