Says Israel Misunderstood Türkiye's Goodwill, President Erdogan Cancels Visit Plan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Source: Presidency of The Republic of Turkiye)

JAKARTA - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on all parties to the conflict in Gaza to stop attacks and exercise restraint, as he called the Palestinian militant group Hamas not terrorists, saying Israel was abusing Turkey's goodwill.

"Israeli missile attacks and missile attacks on Israel must stop," he said at a meeting of his party's parliamentary group, calling for the emergency delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories," reported Daily Sabah, October 25.

President Erdogan emphasized that both parties and the international community must learn from the failure of previous peace negotiations.

"We see the Palestinian problem from a humanitarian window. We are doing everything to stop the crisis that has gotten worse since October 7," said President Erdogan.

"We have a stance based on principle. We openly say we can tolerate (acts of violence) against Israeli civilians. We have no problem with the state of Israel, but we have never condoned Israeli atrocities that are more appropriate for an organization than a state. Since 7 "In October, Israel carried out its bloodiest, most disgusting attack on innocent people in Gaza," he explained.

On the same occasion, President Erdogan recalled his meeting with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN summit in New York, USA last month, making it one of the moments to normalize Turkey's relations with Israel, making President Erdogan plan to visit Israel to further thaw relations between the two countries.

"I shook his hand just once. I had good intentions. If they continued with good intentions, our relationship would be better, but unfortunately they abused our good intentions," he said.

Still on that occasion, President Erdogan called Hamas a fighter to liberate its territory, rather than a terrorist group.

"Hamas is not a terrorist organization. It is a liberation group, a group of mujahideen who are fighting to defend their land and people," praised President Erdogan.

President Erdogan also said that almost half of the victims killed by Israeli attacks were women and children.

"This is enough to show that Israel did not act in self-defense but committed acts of barbarity that amount to crimes against humanity. You cannot find any other country or army in the world that bombs cities, hospitals, places of worship, schools and markets day and night with warplanes just to kill children," he explained.

He added that Turkey is ready to be a guarantor for Palestine and organize an international Palestine-Israel peace conference.

"We propose holding an international Palestine-Israel peace conference involving all influential actors in the region," he said.

"This should be an event that aims to achieve what its predecessors, whether in Madrid or Oslo, failed to achieve," stressed President Erdogan.