Turkey's Erdogan blasts UN, Israel over Gaza 'barbarism'

 

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on September 24, 2024. [AFP]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday lashed out at the UN for inaction on Gaza, accusing Israel of turning the Palestinian territory into the "world's largest children's and women's cemetery."

He also threw support behind Lebanon, where Israel had launched widespread strikes targeting Hezbollah, while chastising the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for dragging the Middle East region deeper "into war."

"Not only children but also the UN system is dying in Gaza," Erdogan told the UN General Assembly in New York.

"The truth, the values that the West claims to defend are dying ... I ask openly: Hey human rights organizations, aren't those in Gaza and West Bank human beings?"

Erdogan criticized the UN Security Council for failing to order a halt to the fighting and repeatedly said "the world is bigger than five," alluding to the body's five permanent members, which includes Israel's strongest ally the United States.

"UN Security Council, what are you waiting for to prevent the genocide in Gaza and to say 'stop' to this cruelty, this barbarism?" he asked.

An outspoken critic of Israel's offensive in Gaza, Erdogan urged the international community to stop "Netanyahu and his murder network," comparing the prime minister to Nazi Germany's Adolf Hitler.

"Just as Hitler was stopped by the alliance of humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must be stopped by the 'alliance of humanity,'" he said.

On the latest wave of deadly Israeli strikes on Lebanon, the Turkish leader said: "What more are you waiting for to stop the massacre network that also endangers the lives of its own citizens along with the Palestinian people and drags the entire region into war for the sake of its political prospects?"

Erdogan called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, where authorities say Israeli operations have killed at least 41,467 people, after Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,215 people.

"An immediate and permanent ceasefire should be achieved, a hostage-prisoner exchange should be carried out, and humanitarian aid should be delivered to Gaza in an unhindered and uninterrupted way," he said.