UPDATE - More pressure needs to be put on Israeli government, as Türkiye said at NATO summit: President Erdogan

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS BY PRESIDENT ERDOGAN

By Seda Sevencan and Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) – Türkiye said “clearly” at this week’s NATO summit in Washington, DC that more pressure needs to be put on Tel Aviv for peace in the region, said the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday.

“We clearly expressed at the NATO summit the need to put more pressure on the Israeli government. We underlined at every meeting that NATO cannot ignore the Gaza crisis as the consequences would be very severe,” Erdogan said in a speech at the National Defense University staff officer graduation ceremony.

Saying that words are insufficient to describe “the massacre in Gaza,” Erdogan added that 16,000 children and nearly 40,000 innocent Palestinians have lost their lives, with approximately 90,000 innocent people injured, and due to Israel's attacks directly targeting civilian settlements, nearly three-quarters of Gaza has been turned into rubble.

“No principles, rules, or red lines of international humanitarian law were observed; in fact, they were intentionally violated,” he added.

“It must be clearly stated: What has been happening in Gaza since Oct. 7 is not war, it is not efforts to ensure state security, it is not legitimate defense; it is plainly genocide, the most wretched example of massacre, barbarism, and genocide," he said.

Erdogan added that this “disgraceful stain” will forever remain on the conscience of those responsible for the loss of innocent lives and those “who have watched the madness from the sidelines for nine months."

Ankara’s desire is for a cease-fire to be declared soon so that people of Gaza can breathe “a little easier,” he said.

Erdogan added that no country in the region including Türkiye can feel fully safe as long as Israel continues to seek its security by occupying more land.

He added that Türkiye is making intense efforts to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza and pave the way for a lasting peace.

- Türkiye’s anti-terror operations

On Türkiye’s counter-terrorism operations around its borders, Erdogan said Türkiye will soon “close the lock” in the anti-terrorist Operation Claw Zone in northern Iraq.

Within Türkiye’s borders, the PKK has become unable to carry out actions, Erdogan said, adding: “In the regions of Iraq and Syria, the organization is now tightly cornered.”

He added that Türkiye is “hard on their trail” with its security forces.

“We will complete the missing links of the security belt along our southern border in Syria based on the territorial integrity of Syria," he said.

Stressing Ankara’s determination not to tolerate any structure posing a threat to the country along the Iraqi and Syrian borders, Erdogan said: "Just examining the types and varieties of seized weapons is sufficient to illustrate how Türkiye is fighting a multinational, multi-partner terrorist consortium.”

“As a state, we are keenly aware of this reality: as long as terrorists with their guns pointed at Türkiye exist beyond our borders, we cannot be at peace here. If we want to achieve our goals in the economy, foreign policy, democracy, rights, and freedoms, we must certainly dry up the swamp of terrorism. Otherwise, we cannot free ourselves from wasting time and energy,” he added.

Erdogan earlier suggested that this summer would see a decisive Turkish push against terrorists in northern Iraq, near the Turkish border.

Terrorist groups, especially the PKK, often hide out in northern Iraq to plot attacks on Turkish soil, but Türkiye has made decisive strides against them in recent years.

In its nearly 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

- Russia-Ukraine war

Erdogan also said that Türkiye is in a position that offers not only geographical strategic advantages but also threats and dangers.

"Almost every crisis that occupies humanity's agenda is unfolding around our country. The war between Russia and Ukraine is approaching the 2 1/2-year mark. Conflicts where neither side achieves complete dominance periodically escalate, leading to serious casualties and destruction. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a strong will to end the war in the near future," he said.

Emphasizing that the region will continue to bear the burden of war for some time, Erdogan said Ankara is doing everything possible to stop this bloodshed, which also harms bilateral relations with neighboring countries, and will continue to do so.