Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spent over half of his very lengthy address to the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday criticizing Israel for its war against the terrorists of Hamas and Hezbollah.
Erdogan accused the Israelis of genocide, compared them to Nazi Germany, and demanded the U.N. authorize “coercive measures against Israel” to halt the war in Gaza.
“The international community, and all of us in the human family, must fulfill our obligation to the Palestinian people without further delay,” Erdogan demanded.
Turkey’s Islamist leader claimed the U.N. has “failed in its founding mission” and become a “dysfunctional structure” because it has done nothing to stop “the massacre that has been going on in Gaza for the last 350 days.”
“They shredded the charter of the United Nations from the rostrum of the United Nations and shamelessly challenged the whole world,” he said of the Israelis.
“In Gaza, not only children are dying, but also the United Nations system. The values that the West claims to defend are dying. Truth is dying. The hopes of humanity to live in a more just world are dying, one by one,” he declared.
Erdogan blamed the U.N.’s inaction on Israel and its most influential supporters, although he never quite got around to calling out the United States, Turkey’s NATO ally, by name.
“‘The world is bigger than five’ is my motto. International justice cannot be left to the will of five privileged member states of the Security Council,” he said.
Erdogan extensively regurgitated Hamas propaganda about the war in Gaza, absurdly insisting that almost all of the casualties were “women and children” deliberately targeted by Israel in a campaign of genocide.
“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.
Erdogan tried intimidating the “countries supporting Israel in an unconditional manner” by asking how long they could “carry the same of witnessing this massacre.” Later, he suggested all of the countries supporting Israel should be held accountable as accomplices to its alleged crimes.
Erdogan accused the Israelis of “disregarding basic human rights,” “trampling on international law,” and “practicing ethnic cleansing–- a clear genocide against a nation, a people, and occupying their lands step-by-step.”
“Just as Hitler was stopped by an alliance of humanity, Netanyahu and his murder network must be stopped by an alliance of humanity,” he declared, asking the UNGA to authorize the use of force against Israel.
Erdogan also insisted Israel must pay “the bill for the billions of dollars of damage caused in the cities that have been destroyed, wrecked, and reduced to rubble.”
The Turkish leader restated his support for South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and said he would not rest until “those who gave the orders, pulled the triggers and dropped the bombs are held accountable for their crimes.”
Erdogan took time to salute the destructive and often violent pro-Hamas protests held in Western countries – an especially savory bit of hypocrisy, given how he deals with dissenting voices in Turkey, and has even ordered his security forces to assault them when on American soil.
“I would like to especially thank the university students and the youth,” he said.
Nowhere in Erdogan’s speech was there even the slightest mention of why Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza, and now Hezbollah in Lebanon. Erdogan mentioned October 7 – but he framed it as the beginning of Israel’s random and remorseless massacre of “41,000 people, mostly children and women.” He studiously avoided mentioning anything unpleasant that might have happened to some Jews on that day.
Erdogan did not even mention Hamas until almost 20 minutes into his speech and his sole reference to the Palestinian terrorist gang was to falsely congratulate them for supposedly accepting every ceasefire offer that came their way.
Erdogan went on to claim Israel deliberately scuttled any hope for peace by “sneakily killing its negotiating partner at the time it was closest to a ceasefire,” a reference to the July elimination of Hamas mastermind Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. Israel has not taken responsibility for the suspected bombing that killed Haniyeh, though its government is widely suspected of orchestrating it.
Erdogan effectively wrote the Palestinians a blank check for terrorism, seemingly including the October 7 atrocities, because they are “exercising their legitimate rights of resistance against this occupation and ethnic cleansing.” Erdogan has in the past repeatedly and explicitly stated, “Hamas is not a terrorist organization,” including shortly after October 7.
“The just resistance of the Palestinian people against the occupiers of their land is noble, it’s honorable, and legitimate,” Erdogan said, taking a moment to wave at his “brothers and sisters in the legitimate resistance in Palestine.”
Erdogan insisted the only possible resolution to the conflict was giving the Palestinians a state carved from Israeli territory, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Erdogan spent some time complaining about issues of particular interest to Turkey, praising the Turkish Cypriots and the BRICS economic collective, and complaining that part of Syria remains “in the grip of terrorism and separatist organizations,” by which he meant the Kurds.
Erdogan, who has styled himself as a defender of global Islam, complained that “Islamophobia, xenophobia, and racism” are “creeping over the world like poison ivy.”
“Every week, attacks are taking place on our mosques and our holy book of Quran. In the middle of Europe, peoples’ homes are set on fire and their lives are taken because of their ethnic and religious affiliation,” he said, demanding the appointment of a special U.N. envoy to combat Islamophobia.
At the end of his long speech, Erdogan caught his second wind and launched a spirited attack against the LGBTQIAP2S+ movement, describing it as a threat to “the institution of the family,” which is a “pillar of society.”
“The disgrace staged at the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games has revealed the extent of the threat we face as humanity. A sporting event watched by innocent children and hundreds of millions of people of all ages and beliefs has been used as a tool for sexist propaganda,” he said.
The disgrace Erdogan referred to was a recreation of what many interpreted to be the Christian Last Supper with drag queens, bracketed by a transgender fashion show and a dance number simulating various forms of gay intercourse, including a threesome. Organizers claimed the feast was meant to portray a Hellenic pagan scene hosted by the ancient Greek god Dionysus.
“Those disturbing scenes of evil have wounded not only the Catholic world, the Christian world, but everyone who respects the sacred values,” he said.
Erdogan said the homosexual agenda has become “a war against the sacred and human nature,” a “multidimensional, comprehensive, and ruthless project of destruction.”
“Anyone who raises a voice against this annihilation project is silenced and targeted by hate campaigns,” he said, declaring that his government would not be intimidated.
“Turkey is determined to break this siege and resist the climate of fear. To this end we became a member of the United Nations Friends of the Family group. Inshallah, together with other member countries, we will not hesitate to defend the family, the human being, and human nature,” he concluded.
