The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, assured this Tuesday that the Islamist organization Hamas, which launched an assault against Israel on October 7 and killed more than 1,400 people, "is not a terrorist organization" but a "group of fighters for the liberation" of Palestine.
"The entire West considers Hamas a terrorist organization. From here I say it: Israel, you can be one; the West owes you many debts. But Turkey does not owe you.
Hamas is not a terrorist organization; "It is a group of liberation fighters, fighting to protect their land and their citizens," Erdogan said in Parliament in Ankara.
The president accused Israel of "killing children" in Gaza through bombings. According to Erdogan, he shook hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu only once, during a meeting in the United States last month, as part of efforts to improve ties between the two countries after the reestablishment of diplomatic relations last year. past.
"Netanyahu has abused our good will. We had the plan to go to Israel and we have canceled it," Erdogan said today during the speech to his party in Parliament, broadcast live on the NTV network.
The Turkish head of state called for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza to put an end to "both Israeli attacks and rocket fire (by Hamas) against Israel", as well as the urgent opening of a "humanitarian corridor" with passage permission for the wounded in Gaza.
The sending of humanitarian aid through the border crossing with Egypt must also continue, since the number of trucks sent so far represents "a drop in the desert that means nothing," he added.
Erdogan recalled that Turkey has so far sent eight planes with humanitarian aid to Egypt for transfer to Gaza.
