President Erdoğan: "They aim to push us to a point where we declare Hamas a terrorist organisation. No, it is not a terrorist organisation. On the contrary, they are people who struggle to preserve and defend their territories and fight for their homeland."
President Erdoğan addressed questions from journalists and made statements during his return flight from a visit to Saudi Arabia.
Noting that the Eighth Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Summit Conference, during which the Israeli assaults on Palestine were discussed, was concluded successfully, President Erdoğan recalled that the summit was organised in collaboration between the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League and said, "We took advantage of today's meeting of 25 to 26 countries to assess the joint efforts of the OIC and the Arab League."
President Erdoğan emphasised that Palestine, a country that has suffered decades of occupation and oppression, has been the victim of unspeakable cruelty for the last 36 days, leading to the deaths of innocent civilians in Gaza and forcing them to flee their own lands amid intense bombardment, adding:
"The world is witnessing Israel commit war crimes by indiscriminately targeting hospitals, schools, places of worship, including mosques and churches, and even ambulances carrying the sick and dead, as well as refugee camps. Western nations are merely on the sidelines, watching the atrocities being committed. It is impossible for anyone with a conscience to remain silent in the face of all this. I have therefore made it my mission to bring attention to the Gaza massacre on a global scale and lend a voice to the Palestinian cause from the very beginning. I endeavour to accomplish these objectives through both in-person meetings and phone diplomacy. Meanwhile, through verbal and visual media efforts, we have made it clear that we outright denounce any kind of attack that targets civilians. Since October 7, we have exerted considerable effort to establish a humanitarian ceasefire through diplomatic means and channels of dialogue. I stressed the criticality of enforcing a ceasefire, ending the hostilities, and ensuring unrestricted humanitarian assistance to Gaza throughout our talks."
"Islamic world must act as a unified body and voice"
President Erdoğan informed that ten planes carrying around 230 tonnes of humanitarian aid supplies have been dispatched to Egypt thus far for delivery to Gaza, stating, "A large ship carrying 50 containers of medical supplies, mobile field hospitals, and other relief supplies departed for Egypt yesterday morning and will likely arrive in Al Arish tomorrow morning. Our ship, which is currently en route to Al Arish Port, is loaded with 660 tonnes of supplies as a result of all our efforts."
Emphasising that the international community must take action against the massacres, President Erdoğan went on to state:
"However, once more, the utterly ineffective United Nations Security Council has fallen short of its responsibilities. The resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on October 27, which called for unrestricted humanitarian aid and a cessation of hostilities, with 121 'yes' votes, is promising. I consider this decision significant and valuable, as it embodies the stance taken by the overwhelming majority of the international community. Throughout the resolution's implementation, the Islamic world must act as a unified body and voice."
President Erdoğan stated that he not only drew attention to these issues during the summit but also emphasised the enormous responsibilities of the OIC, which had been established for the Palestinian cause.
"On the basis of these arguments, they accepted these severe articles"
Indicating that countries had preparations for the final declaration, President Erdoğan said: "During our meetings, all participants reviewed these documents. We put forth the majority of the proposals concerning implementation. This ensured that each item that was specified prior to the summit was included in the final document. In this document, which defines the settlers as terrorists and even develops a plan of geostrategy, there are numerous action items that have never been addressed before."
Regarding the summit's final declaration, President Erdoğan opined:
"A Denuclearisation Conference in the region has been proposed for the first time, with Israel's nuclear weapons serving as the underpinning. In other words, there is both a tactical part and a strategic part. The two are well connected. Particularly, further progress was made in terms of facilitating the delivery of aid; for example, the term 'breaking the blockade' was introduced. A definition that emphasised action was adopted, which went far beyond the diplomatic definition. The member states initially said to us, 'Why are we writing this declaration if some of these articles are not implemented?' We have always said that there should be a discourse so that action can follow. If a country wants to do something, this document should be a reference point. More importantly, the West should realise that the distance between them and us is widening because of Palestine, and this is an indicator of that. On the basis of these arguments, they accepted these severe articles."
"Does it not trouble your conscience?"
President Erdoğan emphasised that during the Charlie Hebdo incident, all world leaders, presidents and prime ministers marched in Paris, including the leaders of Muslim countries, and said:
"Today, the death toll in Gaza has reached 13,000 when you add all the children, women and the elderly together. This is the current situation, but do world leaders speak out at all about these events, especially in Palestine? Do they take action and point the finger at Israel? No, they don't. Why not? We need to recognise this now. Here, the blood of Muslims is shed, the dead, and the martyrs; these people are Muslims. But those who died there were French or others, but above all, they were human beings. So, when we considered that, we did it from the perspective of them being humans.
Why don't world leaders consider this incident as 'So many people died'? There are babies and children among them, for heaven's sake. There are children. You see a father wrapped in a white shroud; a mother holding her child in her arms, kissing him as she takes him to the grave. They are lined up in rows. We have seen these. We have seen mothers, the ones smelling and kissing the corpses of their children and trying to take them to the grave. Does it not trouble your conscience? Do you not think you have any part in this at all? No. Because they never claim any part in anything. That is why we are experiencing a great tragedy, a great struggle here."
Pointing out that it is not possible to remain silent and idle in the face of this drama and tragedy, President Erdoğan said: "We will work diligently and strive, and perhaps this tragic event will pave the way for further developments. I told my colleagues this evening, after my meeting with (Egyptian President Abdel Fattah) al-Sisi, that another door will probably open for us now. What can we do in the region with the visit to Egypt and this step? Allah willing, we will also take the step to talk and discuss these on site."
"In the end, the Palestinians and all the oppressed will win"
Pointing out that he met with President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, where he was on the occasion of the 16th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organisation, upon the question, "We have just learned from you that Raisi will pay a visit to Türkiye on the 28th. Can joint steps be taken with Iran on Gaza?", President Erdoğan responded:
"There is no reason why they cannot be taken. But the entire point is that when we take these joint steps, we take them in a way to ensure that we do not have a foot in both camps. Let's take steps that will yield results, and while taking these steps, let's take steps that will mobilise international diplomacy without sentimentality, and while doing all this, let's be able to send messages to both the peoples of Iran and Türkiye. Indeed, it would be precisely on target if we are able to accomplish this."
Emphasising that achieving a ceasefire is vitally important for Türkiye, President Erdoğan said that the work will not be completed with a ceasefire; on the contrary, it will further intensify.
Underscoring that the solidarity of the countries in the region will be very important for healing the wounds in Gaza, President Erdoğan stated that there is much to be done, from the restoration of Gaza's infrastructure to the resumption of life in the ruined settlements.
President Erdoğan said, "We are ready to discuss and take action with Iran or other states to stop the bloodshed and end civilian deaths. On the other hand, this war will not evolve into the Crescent-Crusader War because it has become a war of good and evil, lies and truth, oppressed and oppressor, truth and falsehood. I am convinced that the righteous, those who stand by the truth, the oppressed and advocates of justice—in other words, the Palestinians and all the oppressed—will ultimately prevail."
"Our land has been the cradle of great peace throughout history"
In response to a journalist's question, "Are you thinking about convening a peace conference to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?" What are your precise expectations regarding the conference?" President Erdoan stated that this was one of the proposed solutions and elaborated:
"We are presently devising strategies to advance this matter in collaboration with nations that share our solidarity and with whom we can engage in constructive dialogue and problem-solving. In this regard, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is expanding its efforts. Insallah, this will steer the related parties towards an entirely different path. We have consistently maintained the position that 'there are no losers in a fair peace' due to our sincere conviction in this matter. Peace could not be more easily achieved than through a gathering of all regional actors, including the belligerent factions. We will strive to achieve these, and our land has been the cradle of great peace throughout history. It is our responsibility to ensure that this continues in the future. We are strong enough to do it. We possess both the manpower and the intelligence. We have no issues at this time, and our past is not bleak. This is the result of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League's efforts yesterday. The essence of the matter is that when you are actively involved, things change. Insallah we can achieve such a result at this peace conference."
"I felt like even the abstainers were on our side"
In response to the question, "May we regard the position you have adopted since October 7 in support of humanity and global conscience as a second 'One Minute'? What do you anticipate will transpire in the Middle East moving forward?", President Erdoğan reminded that the issue in Davos was the killing of children by Israel at that time.
President Erdoğan said "It was sincerely formed and became the conscience of humanity, and then I declared, 'This is my last visit to Davos'" and made the following statement:
"I declared, 'I will never attend Davos again.'" I shut that door. That person has already disappeared, but God gave us life, and I am here... Presently, each word we utter and each action we undertake serves to fulfil our humanitarian obligation. It is impossible to disregard the situation in Palestine, to disregard the cries of the Palestinian people, and to turn away. This attitude would have been self-denial if we had not expressed this humanitarian plight, not only in Davos but also in numerous other regions then and now."
President Erdoğan noted that Israel has lost the support of the international community as a result of the recent Gaza attacks and added, "Although many countries vie to aid the Israeli government in accordance with their imperialist ambitions, societies now view Israel as a nation that murders children."
President Erdoğan asserted that there are matters that require consideration in the subsequent course of action, stating:
"Absolutely, we should not swallow our words, because we are making the same call to conscience here today as we did at that time. We appeal to conscience. It appears that not all of them is unscrupulous. If all of them were unscrupulous, 121 countries would not think like us here at the United Nations General Assembly, and I felt like even the abstentions were on our side. What will we do? We will continue our marking. We will engage in the practise of individual-to-individual identification and territorial demarcation, for it is evident that the lands in question have been tainted by the deliberate dissemination of seeds of discord throughout the course of history. We need to remove these seeds of discord. Could we do this as well? I am confident that we will succeed, and other nations in the region possess the same capability, quality, and power as us; however, they all have this concern, which must be eradicated. We must make other countries say that 'if Türkiye believes this, then we can take this action in the same fashion'."
President Erdoğan emphasized that unity is the only antidote to the region's conflicts, wars, disagreements, and tensions, saying, "If we become united, be great and sharp, the fires in our region will go out one by one. This geography, which became a place of fire, reverted to its original state as a rose garden and the sun of civilization. If we keep all our differences aside, considering them as riches, and highlight our commonalities, we will surely see that all our problems will begin to be solved. Our region must rid itself of countries that come from tens of thousands of kilometres away and want to gain power here as soon as possible."
A journalist reminded President Erdoğan that he had said "The world is bigger than five" years ago at the United Nations General Assembly and asked, "In the face of the events in Syria, Ukraine, and now Palestine, your thesis has actually been confirmed. Indeed, the UN was unable to take an appropriate stance. What concrete steps should be taken to make the UN more functional?" President Erdoğan answered the question as follows:
"First of all, it is these 121 countries that recognise that the world is bigger than five. With their stance, they said, 'Yes, the world is bigger than five'. 121 countries said, 'Look, we don't think like you, we are on the side of justice here, we are taking steps with the understanding that a fairer world is possible, and we are taking our stand by siding with the oppressed in this almost war between Israel and Palestine. This, in my opinion, was a crucial test. But now I say it again. We must persist in our efforts to ensure that these 194-195 countries, including the permanent members, are on our side in this matter, and we must act accordingly. Because the United Nations' founding purpose has now become dysfunctional."
President Erdoğan, further stating that the United Nations Security Council is currently unable to achieve a resolution, proceeded as follows:
"So if one member behaves inappropriately, nothing happens. Now we must persuade countries to accept a step that will begin from scratch, not after World War I, and the entire world must see that this step has been taken collectively. What does it mean for an international body tasked with maintaining peace to witness war after war? To avoid the United Nations disintegrating and becoming a thing of the past, it is necessary to revise it, change its unjust structure, and gain a functional, even deterrent structure with the power to impose sanctions.
We have once again seen that the United Nations and other international organisations are dysfunctional and blind when Muslims die. I have always said and will continue to say that the global system is unjust, that international organisations are biased in favour of power, and that they steer the global order in the interests of five countries. When we say that the world is bigger than five, some people think it is just a slogan. This is actually a manifesto for justice."
President Erdoğan stated that no structure that does not update and renew itself will be able to survive in the new world order, adding, "It is now essential to update a structure built after World War II. The United Nations' permanent membership and veto system should be changed. The world's future and people's lives cannot be left to the mercy of five countries with veto power."
"We are increasing our political and strategic cooperation every day"
President Erdoğan noted that the United Nations system is stalled and that there are serious crisis areas in the world, and said that there is a need for international organisations that can focus on these issues and find effective solutions.
President Erdoğan stated that the Organization of Turkic States has started to come to the fore at this point, and when asked, "Can we say that the Organization of Turkic States will be more at the forefront in global and regional blockages from now on?" he answered, "We want the Organization of Turkic States to strengthen and demonstrate its power in unity also for these reasons. We must make decisions that will serve as a model for international organisations and result in concrete solutions to regional and global problems."