ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday vowed that Israel would pay a price for the “genocide” in Gaza as he marked the first anniversary of the Israeli war on Gaza in response to the October 7 last year attack by Hamas.
“It should not be forgotten that Israel will sooner or later pay the price for this genocide that it has been carrying out for a year and is still continuing,” Erdogan said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Erdogan, who has long been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause has frequently condemned Israel’s actions in the region.
In his remarks, Erdogan labeled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the “butcher of Gaza,” drawing a comparison to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
“Just as Hitler was stopped by an alliance of humanity, Netanyahu and his murder network will be stopped in the same way,” Erdogan said. He added, “A world in which no account is held for the Gaza genocide will never find peace.”
Throughout the past year of hostilities, Erdogan has consistently supported the Palestinian side and has referred to Hamas as freedom fighters. In his latest statements, he argued that the ongoing violence in Gaza reflects a broader failure of the international community.
“What has been massacred before the eyes of the entire world for exactly one year is actually all of humanity, and all of humanity’s hopes for the future,” he said, stressing that peace will remain elusive as long as no one is held accountable for the bloodshed in Gaza.
Erdogan also denounced the international system for failing to stop the ongoing Israeli bombardment in Gaza and prevent its spread to neighboring Lebanon.
“Israel’s long-standing policy of genocide, occupation, and invasion must now come to an end,” he said.
