UPDATE - Türkiye sends 9th aid ship to Gaza, consolidating role as top relief supplier: President Erdogan

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS FROM TURKISH PRESIDENT ERDOGAN; MINOR EDITS

By Dilara Hamit and Gozde Bayar

Türkiye maintains its role as a leading provider of humanitarian aid to Gaza, the country's president said Tuesday, pointing to the dispatch of its ninth vessel carrying 3,774 tons of relief materials to the Palestinian enclave.

Speaking after a Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara, Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasized that Türkiye had been allowing no exports to Israel that could be used for military purposes long before the current military offensive on Gaza began in October last year.

Türkiye is the country that pioneered the export restriction against Israel after Tel Aviv launched its attacks on the Gaza Strip last October, he added.

The Turkish president added that apart from a few countries, nobody reacted to the Israeli administration's “brutality,” which trampled on international practices.

Erdogan highlighted Türkiye's role as a stable actor amidst global turmoil, attributing this to its balanced foreign policy and achievements in the defense industry.

"Adding fuel to the fire and continually spoiling the Netanyahu administration will not do anyone any good," Erdogan said in his remarks at the presidential complex, noting that new tensions could be expected in the region until the "oppression and genocide" in Gaza ends.

“Since October 7, the Israeli government has been taking provocative steps to spread the fire in the region. Israel's targeting of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, in violation of international law and the Vienna Convention, was the last straw,” he added.

He urged all actors to act responsibly and play their part to stop Israeli attacks.

Iran on Saturday launched an airborne attack on Israel in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic compound in the Syrian capital. It reportedly fired more than 300 drones and missiles, with almost all intercepted by the air defense systems of Israel and its allies – the US, France and the UK.

Israel has waged a military offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by Hamas last October, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 33,800 Palestinians have since been killed and 76,600 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the seaside enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while much of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered it to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.