Turkey welcomes Palestine to UN General Assembly
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, addressing the UN General Assembly, expressed Turkey’s “pleasure to see the representative of our friend and brother Palestine in his rightful place among the member states”.
“I hope this historic step will be the final turning point on the road leading to Palestine’s membership of the United Nations,” Erdogan added.
“The international community and all of us in the human family must fulfil our obligation to the Palestinian people without further ado, that haven’t done already.”
UN ‘failed’ to fulfil founding mission, says Erdogan
Turkey’s President Erdogan says he’s not “representing a country” that is removed from regional tensions.
He added:
- Some people will be critical of us, but despite that today, on the common rostrum of the human race, we will speak of the truth frankly and openly.
- The United Nations, under the roof of which we are today, was established in the aftermath of World War II, in which millions of people lost their lives to maintain international peace and security.
- With the establishment of the United Nations, expectations for global stability, peace and justice were reborn.
- To put it bluntly, unfortunately, in the last few years, the United Nations has failed to fulfil its founding mission and has gradually become a dysfunctional structure.
Erdogan slams Israeli attacks on Gaza
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says “international justice” cannot be left to the five veto-wielding Security Council members, adding the biggest example of that is the “massacre that has been going on in Gaza”.
“Since October 7, 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the continuous Israeli attacks – 41,000 lives, 41,000 people, mostly children and women, were ruthlessly taken away and no one knows where more than 10,000 people are,” he said.
“At least 172 journalists were killed while trying to do their job under very difficult circumstances, and more than 500 medics have been killed while they were trying to save lives.
“[Israel] hits marketplaces, tents, and camps where refugees sheltered. They hit 820 mosques and three churches that shouldn’t have been touched even in war, and they deliberately hit dozens of hospitals, dozens of schools. They shredded the charter of the United Nations and shamelessly challenged the whole world.”
‘Values’ of the West are ‘dying’ in Gaza: Erdogan
Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan says images leaked from Israeli prisons of the treatment of Palestinians show what kind of “barbarianism we are facing”.
“As a result of Israeli attacks, Gaza has become the world’s largest cemetery for women and children,” he said.
President Erdogan highlighted the killing of Hind Rajab, who was six years old when an Israeli attack targeted the car carrying her and her family.
“In Gaza, not only are children dying, but also the United Nations system. The values the West claims to defend are dying, the truth is dying, and the hopes of humanity to live in a more just world are dying – one by one.
“I am asking you bluntly here: are those in Gaza and the occupied West Bank not human beings? Do children in Palestine have no rights?”
Erdogan calls for ‘coercive measures’ against Israel’s ‘annihilation project’
“Those who are supposedly working for a ceasefire in front of the stage continue to send arms and ammunition to Israel so it can continue its massacres,” said Turkey’s leader.
Hamas has repeatedly agreed to a ceasefire since May, but Israel continues to “drag its feet”, Erdogan said.
“Israel’s stalling and deception should not be given any more credit,” he said. “Coercive measures should be put on the agenda. We believe the UN General Assembly’s authority to recommend the use of force – as in the 1950 resolution on the ‘unity for peace’ – should be considered during this time.”
“Who speaks out against this annihilation project?” Erdogan asked. “An immediate and permanent ceasefire must be established. Hostages and prisoners must be exchanged. And humanitarian aid must be delivered to Gaza unhindered and uninterrupted.”
‘A clear genocide against a nation’
Turkey’s president called on the UN Security Council to “put a stop to this cruelty, this barbarianism”, citing Israel’s war on Gaza.
“What are you waiting for to stop [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his mass murder network, and what are you still waiting for to stop them from putting their own people and the entire region in danger for political gain?” Erdogan asked.
He singled out countries supporting Israel in an “unconditional manner”, asking “How long are you going to be able to carry the shame of witnessing this massacre?”
“I would like to state very clearly and loudly here that the Israeli government is disregarding basic human rights, trampling on international law at every opportunity, and practicing ethnic cleansing – a clear genocide against a nation,” Erdogan said.
