Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one of the world’s government leaders most fervently supporting the jihadist terrorists of Hamas, issued a statement on Monday marking the anniversary of Hamas’s unprecedented slaughter of Israeli civilians in which he threatened Israel.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas, an Iran-backed jihadist terror organization based in Gaza, invaded Israel from Gaza and engaged in the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians and other widespread atrocities. Hamas terrorists killed entire families in their homes, engaged in door-to-door raids of residential communities, and tortured, gang-raped, and otherwise tormented their victims. Israeli officials estimate that 1,200 people were killed on October 7, including children as young as infants. An estimated 250 others were abducted into Gaza, of whom about 101 remain unaccounted for today.
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Erdogan made no note of the October 7 massacre on Monday, instead comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and describing October 7 as the anniversary of the day Israel randomly began a “genocide” in Gaza. In reality, Israel declared war on Hamas on October 8 and launched a self-defense operation in Gaza to prevent a repeat of the atrocities that occurred the day before.
“It should not be forgotten that Israel will sooner or later pay the price for this genocide that has been going on for a year,” Erdogan warned in a statement on social media on Monday, according to the Turkish state outlet Anadolu Agency. “Just as humanity’s common alliance stopped Hitler, (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and his murder network will be stopped in the same way.”
Erdogan concluded by declaring that Turkey would “stand against the Israeli government regardless of the cost.”
The Turkish strongman addressed Israel again on Tuesday, speaking to college students in Ankara. Erdogan decried the “Zionist lobby” for supporting Israel’s attempts to prevent an eruption of violence led by the overtly and unapologetically genocidal Hamas and claimed that, in Western countries, police have repressed peaceful pro-Hamas protests.
“Western countries that have lectured us about democracy at our universities for years have failed this test,” Erdogan claimed.
Contrary to Erdogan’s depiction, pro-Hamas campus riots in the United States and elsewhere were largely violent, destructive affairs necessitating law enforcement action, particularly in America’s largest cities. On Monday, a pro-Hamas riot at Columbia University in New York resulted in a Democrat activist, who attended in defense of Israel, receiving a mob beating for daring to suggest opposition to Hamas.
Underlings in Erdogan’s authoritarian government similarly condemned Israel on the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in its history.
“For 365 days, a humanitarian tragedy has been unfolding in Gaza, the cries of the innocent echo in the skies. Even if the world remains silent, we will continue to be the voice of justice,” Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said in a statement on Monday, failing to mention the Hamas attack.
Erdogan’s communication director, Fahrettin Altun, similarly accused Israel of “conducting genocide and blocking people from accessing even their most basic needs,” giving the appearance that this alleged assault began with no triggering event on October 7.
“Israel will eventually be held accountable for these atrocities,” he added. “Under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, we will continue to stand with the innocent and oppose oppression.”
Erdogan has openly and loudly supported Hamas for years, even more vocally following the atrocities of October 7. Less than a month after the attack, the Turkish president organized a massive pro-Hamas rally at Istanbul’s Atatürk airport in which he declared “Hamas is not a terrorist organization” and called for global opposition to “murderer Israel.” The “Great Palestine Rally,” as Erdogan branded it, attracted 1.5 million people, according to the Turkish government, in solidarity with jihadist terror.
The Turkish government openly mourned Ismail Haniyeh, the “political” leader of Hamas, in August after his death in a mysterious explosion in Iran in late July. The Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv flew its flag at half staff to honor Haniyeh, while at home Erdogan again convened thousands to march in support of the terrorist.
More recently, during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in September, Erdogan referred to Israel’s self-defense operations as “barbarism” and called for the U.N. to defend Hamas.
“I call out to the United Nations Security Council: what are you waiting for to prevent the genocide in Gaza, to put a stop to this cruelty, this barbarism? What are you waiting for to stop Netanyahu and his mass murder network?” he asked, using language he repeated this week.
In early October, Erdogan demanded the General Assembly consider the “use of force” against Israel.
“The U.N. General Assembly should rapidly implement the authority to recommend the use of force, as it did with the 1950 Uniting for Peace resolution, if the Security Council can’t show the necessary will,” Erdogan said.
The General Assembly has already invoked the “Uniting for Peace” resolution in response to the Israel-Hamas war.
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