'We cannot remain silent': Turkish foreign minister condemns Israeli oppression in Gaza

By Gizem Nisa Cebi

ISTANBUL (AA) — Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday spoke out against "Israeli oppression" in the Gaza Strip, following a summit of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation in Istanbul.

"In Istanbul, we (D-8 countries) declare together to the whole world that we are not silent in face of Israeli oppression in Gaza and we cannot remain silent," Hakan Fidan said at a joint news conference held after the Extraordinary Developing-8 Countries Foreign Ministers Council Meeting.

Fidan's delivered his remarks at the Dolmabahce Presidential Working Office after the high-profile meeting, where the ministers of the D-8 countries — Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Türkiye — gathered to discuss pressing global issues.

He stressed the need for consistent international principles, drawing parallels between global reactions to conflicts in different regions.

"Those who oppose occupation in Ukraine consider resistance to occupation in Palestine a crime. Gaza has shown the helplessness and inadequacy of the international system in all its starkness," Fidan asserted.

The D-8 Organization, established in 1997, aims to enhance economic cooperation among its member states. However, recent geopolitical tensions have seen the group increasingly vocal on global political issues, particularly those affecting Muslim-majority countries.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack last Oct. 7 despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire

More than 36,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 83,500 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.