Turkish president says reacting to situation in Gaza 'our humanitarian duty’ towards Palestinians

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) – Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said reacting to the situation in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has killed more than 36,000 people since last October, is "our humanitarian duty."

“It is our humanitarian duty to the Palestinian people to react to this insane situation, which puts our humanity and our faith to the test,” Erdogan said in address at the 8th Anatolian Media Awards ceremony in Ankara.

“We see that those who have spent years lecturing us on press freedom remain silent regarding the incidents taking place in the occupied Palestinian territory,” the president added.

“Those who play deaf, dumb, and blind towards genocide today cannot erase this black mark for the rest of their lives,” Erdogan said.

He praised Türkiye’s premier news agency Anadolu and public broadcaster TRT for their coverage of the conflict in Gaza, the blockaded enclave of 2.3 million people now turned into ruins. “Our Anadolu Agency, TRT, with their brave staff in field, have conveyed grim atrocities committed in Gaza to the entire world,” he said.

“When we stand up for our Palestinian brothers and sisters, we stand up for humanity as a whole, for freedom, justice, and peace," Erdogan said.