Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed hundreds of thousands of supporters at one of the largest pro-Palestinian rallies since the Israel-Hamas war began and repeated his assertion that Hamas was not a terrorist organization, Alarabiya News reports.
“Israel has been openly committing war crimes for 22 days, but the Western leaders cannot even call on Israel for a ceasefire, let alone react to it,” Erdogan told the crowd in Istanbul, who waved Palestinian flags.
“We will tell the whole world that Israel is a war criminal. We are making preparations for this. We will declare Israel a war criminal,” he said.
In an hour-long speech, Erdogan also repeated his assertion that Hamas was not a terrorist organization, describing Israel as an occupier.
Turkey has condemned Israeli civilian deaths caused by Hamas’s October 7 rampage through southern Israel, which killed 1,400, but Erdogan this week called the militant group Palestinian “freedom fighters.”
He also criticized some Western nations’ unconditional support for Israel, 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 organization.
It has long hosted its members, supports a two-state solution and has offered to play a role in negotiating the release of hostages abducted by Hamas during the October 7 assault.
