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Türkiye welcomes recent steps taken to recognize a Palestinian state by France, Britain and others, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday, vowing to work to put more pressure on Israel to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
“We find the recent humanitarian reactions coming from Europe, particularly from France and Britain, very valuable. We welcome every step taken toward recognition of the State of Palestine,” Erdoğan said.
“One of the most effective responses to Israel’s genocide policy is to support the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders,” he told a joint news conference with Gabon President Brice Oligui Nguema in Ankara.
His remarks came after multiple countries in recent days announced their intentions to recognize an independent Palestinian state, as part of a broader global shift against Israel’s attrocities in Gaza.
The moves have come as international concern and criticism have grown as starvation and famine are taking place in Gaza and Palestinians are not getting food due to Israeli blockade.
The leading international authority on hunger crises this week said Israel’s military offensive and blockade have led to the “worst-case scenario of famine” in the territory.
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced his country, a heavyweight in the EU, would officially recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September, becoming the first major Western power to do so.
Pressure on Israel
Erdoğan said on Thursday he had called Macron to congratulate him on his decision, adding that supporting a two-state solution would be the most effective stance against Israel’s policies.
“In the coming days, we will work to intensify the pressure on the Israeli government. We will make our brothers and sisters in Gaza feel even more strongly that they are not alone,” he noted.
“We will redouble our efforts to ensure a cease-fire in the region as soon as possible and to establish lasting peace.”
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. will recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to a cease-fire in Gaza, allows the U.N. to bring in aid and takes other steps toward long-term peace.
A day later, Canada also said it would recognize a Palestinian state in September.
Portugal will consider whether to recognize the State of Palestine at the U.N. in September, according to Prime Minister Luis Montenegro’s office on Thursday.
About 144 of the 193 member states of the U.N. recognize Palestine as a state, including most of the global south as well as Russia, China and India.
Attrocities in Gaza
Conditions remain dire in Gaza, where local officials on Thursday said 91 Palestinians were killed and more than 600 wounded while attempting to get aid in the past 24 hours.
“No one can remain silent in the face of the atrocities in Gaza, where children are dying of hunger and civilians seeking food are deliberately shot,” Erdoğan said on Thursday.
“Anyone with even a shred of conscience, compassion, or human dignity is on the verge of losing patience over this oppression.”
Getting humanitarian aid into Gaza remains Türkiye’s priroity, the president stressed.
“We are obliged to do whatever is necessary to stop this oppression,” he added.
Gaza’s 2.3 million residents face an unfolding humanitarian nightmare marked by widespread hunger, shortages of water, medicine and hygiene supplies.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, starvation has claimed more than 145 lives, including 88 children, in Gaza, where local and international observers accuse Israel of weaponizing hunger and thirst.
Israeli forces have destroyed 88% of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure and regularly bomb displaced Palestinians forced from their homes by repeated orders of expulsion.
More than two million Palestinians have been displaced multiple times, living in makeshift tents or overcrowded shelters lacking proper sanitation, where infectious diseases spread.
Daily Israeli airstrikes continue to target these vulnerable populations’ shelters and civilian centers.
Israel’s assaults have killed more than 60,000 Palestinians and injured over 146,260, according to local health authorities.
