Erdogan: Israel is 'Completely Out of Its Mind' in Gaza
Turkish president said Israel has been 'openly committing war crimes'
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, said Wednesday that Israel is “completely out of its mind” in Gaza and said the country must face justice for its atrocities.
“‘You’re going to get a full-scale war.’ That’s the message. I hope we get it.” - Col. Douglas MacGregor (ret.)
“I believe that we should stop Israel — which looks as if it’s completely out of its mind and lost it — as soon as possible. We will ensure that those responsible for war crimes in Gaza will face justice,” he said in a statement obtained by The Times of Israel.
Last weekend, Erdogan came out forcefully against Israel and called its response to the 7 October Hamas attack excessive. He told pro-Palestinian protesters in Istanbul on Saturday that Ankara is gathering information to “present Israel to the world as a war criminal.”
Erdogan has called for an immediate ceasefire and an international peace conference to end the hostilities in Israel.
“With our humanitarian, political, and military presence, we are ready to be one of the guarantors of the Palestinian side. We call on those countries that have a will [for peace] to assess our proposal. We are also proposing the International Palestine-Israel Peace Conference in which all influential actors in the region will participate,” he said.
Erdogan said he met briefly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York and the two shook hands. He has since canceled a meeting with the prime minister in Israel after the Gaza bombardment.
“I shook his hands once only. I had good intentions. If they continued with good intentions, we would have better relations, but unfortunately, they abused our goodwill,” he said, according to The Daily Sabah.
He said Hamas is not a terrorist group, but rather a group fighting for liberation.
“We have a stance based on principles. We openly said that we cannot tolerate (acts of violence) toward Israeli civilians. We have no problem with the state of Israel, but we never approved of Israel’s cruelty more fitting to an organization rather than a state. Since Oct. 7, Israel has been carrying out bloodiest, most repulsive, most safe attacks against innocent people in Gaza,” he said.
Col. Douglas MacGregor (ret.), has said that Turkey is a major power in the region, with NATO’s biggest army.
“They’re ferocious fighters and they are fully committed to ending the afront of Sunni Islam,” he said.
MacGregor noted that Erdogan came forward early on and offered to mediate “and I was hoping that Washington, if not Israel, would take it seriously, and accept his offer.”
“Now, what he has done, setting aside his words, is he set the stage for eventual Turkish military intervention into this regional conflict. He’s warning the Israelis and he’s warning us… ‘You’re going to get a full-scale war.’ That’s the message. I hope we get it.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian visited Turkey on Wednesday and said, “If an immediate cease-fire doesn’t take place in Gaza Strip and the rapid attacks by the U.S. and the Zionist regime continue, then the consequences would be harsh.”