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Speaking to reporters as he was returning from Egypt, where he attended a leaders’ summit on a peace deal for Gaza, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged caution against Israel in the aftermath of the cease-fire.
“It is wrong to see a peace deal as a complete solution to the Palestine issue. We have a tough process ahead; Israel’s adherence to the peace deal should be ensured. Türkiye is determined to safeguard the cease-fire, Israel will pay the price if it goes back to committing genocide,” Erdoğan said.
“We will work hard to address the accommodation of Gazans before winter. Cease-fire does not mean that the international community’s task ended; it has just begun. We have to stand stronger with Gaza, continue our efforts so genocide will not be forgotten,” the president added.
Since the new round of the Palestine-Israel conflict erupted in October 2023, Türkiye threw its support to the Palestinians and the Hamas resistance movement. Erdoğan has been one of the most vocal leaders about Israel’s war crimes and genocide targeting Palestinians. As Israel tightened its blockade of Gaza, Türkiye sought to deliver more humanitarian aid to Palestinians who were starved to death or faced severe shortages of water and medicine.
Two years of Israeli attacks left Gaza largely in ruins as the devastation inflicted by Israel even continued hours before the cease-fire declaration was announced.
The president noted that people of Gaza still lived in tents as most residential buildings were rendered uninhabitable due to Israel’s attacks. “Certainly, these people cannot stay permanently in those tents. I instructed my colleagues to deliver prefabricated housing units to the region if the need arises. We hope to deliver them by winter. AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Authority) will be tasked with this. Türkiye favors peace and this is what our next step is. We are very excited that an order of peace will be established in Gaza,” he said. The president noted that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and the director of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), Ibrahim Kalın, would continue their talks with their counterparts in the region to discuss what countries can do together and how they could move forward in the process.
He said they discussed the roles countries can play in the reconstruction of Gaza and asked for support from Gulf countries, the U.S., and Europe for reconstruction. He said his first impressions on that matter were “not bad.” “They promised to take on roles for recovery,” he noted.
“Türkiye is the conscience of humanity and a great state. We extend our hands to the oppressed wherever they are in the world. Even when Israel continued its attacks, we dispatched our aid to the region. We filled the warehouses in Egypt with aid. Since the beginning of the cease-fire, 350 aid trucks have entered Gaza. Along with food, water and medicine, we deliver our hopes, our brotherhood (to Gazans),” he said.
Erdoğan said humanitarian aid, including materials for accommodation, was being swiftly delivered to the region. “We are working on how to end the impact of humanitarian disasters on people,” he said.
Erdoğan noted that despite “obstructions,” AFAD managed to store some 10,000 tents in the region for delivery to Gaza.
Erdoğan emphasized the urgency of reconstructing Gaza, particularly before winter sets in. He thanked Turkish organizations, including the Turkish Red Crescent, AFAD, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and the Health Ministry, for their efforts. “They coordinate aid with civic society organizations. We will not merely heal the wounds (in Gaza). We will build the future,” he said.
Erdoğan reiterated that Türkiye’s city hospitals hosted the wounded from Gaza and other hospitals were ready to host more if “our Gazan brothers and sisters need.”
On Tuesday, Türkiye sent the 17th vessel as part of its “Goodness Ships” campaign to Gaza. The vessel, carrying around 900 tons of humanitarian aid materials, aims to meet the basic needs of Gazans. Officials, including Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, attended a ceremony to see off the ship from the port of Mersin in southern Türkiye. The ship will unload its cargo at Egypt’s Al-Arish Port, the first destination of humanitarian aid sent by sea to Gaza. The aid the vessel is carrying was collected with the efforts of AFAD and in cooperation with the Egyptian Red Crescent. A total of 17 nongovernmental organizations contributed to the aid campaign. From Al Arish, the aid will be delivered to the Karem Abu Salem border crossing by trucks.
Among the aid are canned food and baby formula. Along with the vessels, Türkiye also delivered aid for Gaza via 14 flights under AFAD’s coordination.
“Gaza is now a giant rubble. People of Gaza are returning to where they were forcibly displaced from, but there are no houses, hospitals and schools left. There is barely any standing residential building,” Erdoğan told journalists. He hailed Türkiye as the country sending the most humanitarian aid to Gaza, totaling 102,000 tons.
He noted that Hamas and Israel agreed on the entry of at least 600 truckloads of aid to Gaza daily, and they were mobilized for the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip, while adding the importance of starting work on the reconstruction of Gaza based on a reconstruction plan approved by Arab and Muslim countries. He said substantial financial support was required for the swift implementation of the reconstruction plan, adding that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League were developing some steps to that extent.
Israel and the cease-fire
Erdoğan was cautiously optimistic about Israel’s compliance with the deal and underlined that it was essential that the United States should exert its influence on the Israeli administration “for thorough adherence to the deal.” The president said he wished that the summit in Sharm al-Sheikh would be a turning point in the “path to peace in the Middle East.” He noted that U.S. President Trump and other heads of state appreciated Türkiye’s contribution to negotiations between Hamas and Israel for a cease-fire.
“This agreement basically regulates a cease-fire. The only solution for this issue for us is the establishment of a State of Palestine based on the 1967 borders, a sovereign, independent state with territorial integrity and with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Erdoğan stressed. “Türkiye will continue working to achieve it,” he said.
Erdoğan lamented Israel’s “bad track record” in complying with cease-fire deals but expressed confidence that the U.S., in particular, and other influential actors would do what is necessary to force Israel to comply with the latest deal.
“At this point, it is necessary to boost efforts for a two-state solution. We would like to regard decisions to recognize Palestine by the United Kingdom, France and other Western countries as milestones on the path to a two-state solution,” he said. “Otherwise, all steps will not be complete,” he said.
Reminding his meetings with the French president and the U.K. prime minister, Erdoğan said the Palestinian cause, for the first time in years, dominated the agenda of humanity. “The Sumud flotilla, people wearing keffiyeh in remote parts of the world (in solidarity with Palestinians), are displays of common conscience against Israel’s cruelty. Calm in Gaza should not let the humanitarian front lapse into inaction,” Erdoğan warned.
The president said Israel’s notorious past of violation of the cease-fire forced them to act cautiously and warned that they always underlined that Israel would pay a hefty price if it reverted to genocide. “Past deals were not turned into action and this was in part due to Israel’s stance. Now we see a stronger, joint will. We saw it in Egypt. I believe Mr. Trump would continue to support the process he initiated. Nobody would consent to a return to the old days. This cease-fire is the fruit of conscience and the common sense of societies,” he said.
Erdoğan said Trump would be primarily responsible for monitoring Israel’s adherence to the cease-fire, and the U.S. president told him to stay in touch. “We will continue our talks. This diplomacy we established with Mr. Trump is crucial. All countries whose leaders came together in Egypt will be the guarantor for the prevalence of a climate of peace in the region,” he said.
Relations with Syria
Answering a question about the integration of the U.S.-backed terrorist group YPG with the post-Assad Syrian army, a critical issue for Türkiye, Erdoğan said they remained in touch with Syria at every level. “We are determined to strengthen our cooperation with Syria to safeguard the gains of Syria and the region. We won’t abandon Mr. President Ahmed al-Sharaa and his administration. We repeatedly warned SDF (a name for the body of forces in northeastern Syria dominated by YPG, the Syrian wing of the PKK) not to make mistakes. We urged them to support Syria’s unity and integrity. We hope they will adopt a stance in line with this,” he said.
The YPG claims to represent Kurds in Syria and enjoyed U.S. support during the Syrian civil war under the pretext of fighting against Daesh. Ankara strongly opposed U.S. support of the YPG and, during the Baathist rule, carried out a cross-border military offensive to drive out the YPG from areas near its border. When the terrorist group started dragging its feet following the March deal with Damascus, which calls for its integration into the Syrian army, Ankara raised its voice again, implying that another military action may be carried out if the YPG remains a threat.
CHP’s ‘complaint’
On domestic politics, Erdoğan criticized the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) as its leader, Özgür Özel, used its rallies to protest the detention of its mayors abroad. Commenting on the CHP’s recent rally in Brussels, Erdoğan said this was “quite ordinary” for the CHP.
“They always sought assistance from abroad when the nation did not agree with them. Not even the administrative cadres of the CHP know what (Özel) plans. You see what happens in their municipalities,” Erdoğan said, implying corruption investigations against mayors of CHP-run municipalities and severe criticism for lack of public services that led to water shortages and heavy pollution in CHP strongholds.
“They organized a tour of complaint. It is shameful,” Erdoğan said, referring to Özel’s rally. After the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu on charges of corruption last March, Özel has sought support from the EU in another visit to Brussels to defend what he called a blow to democracy. The CHP has sought to portray the arrest of Imamoğlu and other mayors implicated with corruption charges as “politically motivated.” The government denies this and has reiterated that the judiciary acts independently and based on evidence, including testimonies of CHP members accusing mayors of taking bribes.
Erdoğan also said Özel failed to apologize for a CHP lawmaker’s insult directed at Turkish expatriates in Europe, during his recent visit, and moreover “had the president of Türkiye booed at.”