Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has castigated the West’s double standards on Israel’s war on Gaza, saying that their selective outrage has undermined the credibility of an international order purportedly founded upon principles and rules.
In an op-ed published by Doha-based news platform Al Jazeera, Erdogan said Western powers adopted an ambivalent approach to Gaza while rushing to act in other crises.
“It is a fact that had the swift and comprehensive sensitivity shown towards the crisis in Ukraine also been displayed in the face of the atrocities in Gaza, the landscape we confront today would be entirely different,” he said.
In its 679th day, Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed nearly 62,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Israel has dropped more than 85,000 tonnes of bombs on Gaza since October 2023, reducing the entire enclave to dust. A months-long aid blockade has caused widespread starvation in Gaza, killing so far at least 239 people.
“Israel’s ability to act without the slightest sanction has accelerated the erosion of international law and human rights norms. The crisis in Gaza stands before us as a litmus test of whether the international community is willing and able to uphold the most fundamental human values,” Erdogan said.
Instead of a mere conflict, the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Gaza should be regarded as a “deepening humanitarian catastrophe” that wounds the collective conscience of humanity, he added.
“I have openly defined Israel’s attacks and policy of collective punishment — in flagrant disregard for international law — as genocide,” he said.
Israeli bombing has rendered Gaza uninhabitable, with nearly all homes, hospitals, schools, and places of worship for a population of 2.1 million reduced to rubble amid a total collapse of essential services like health care and electricity.
“Hunger, thirst, and the threat of epidemic disease are propelling Gaza towards a total humanitarian collapse…This picture is not only the mark of war, but also a stark testament to a systematic policy of annihilation,” he said.
Key to peace: Two-state solution
