NEW YORK, UNITED STATES-SEPTEMBER 23: Addressing the UN General Assembly, the Turkish president on Tuesday urged “all world leaders to stand firmly with oppressed Palestinians today in the name of humanity.”
“Today, we are also here at this podium to speak on behalf of Palestinian people, whose voices are being silenced, together with our own citizens,” said Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan thanked all countries that have recognized Palestine so far, and called on those states that have not yet done so “to act without delay.”
Erdogan said that for 23 months, Israel has killed one child every hour in Gaza, stressing: “These are not numbers, but innocent people.”
“Every day, 2.5 million Gazans living within 365 square kilometers (141 square miles) are displaced, forced to move to another area,” said Erdogan.
“Innocent little children, only 2 or 3 years old, without hands, arms, or legs, sadly became an ordinary image of Gaza today,” the Turkish president said.
“Humanity has not witnessed such brutality in the last century” to equal Israel's genocide in Gaza, he underlined.
“If a small thorn pricks a child's hand, this hurts parents' hearts, but in Gaza, children are amputated without anesthesia. This is the lowest point of humanity.”
“What conscience can endure, what conscience can remain silent on this? Can there be peace in the world where children die from hunger, lack of medicine?” Erdogan asked.

- Occupation under ‘pretext’
Erdogan said Israel’s occupation under the pretext of the events of Oct. 7, 2023 is not counterterrorism, it is “a policy of deportation, exile, genocide, and mass slaughter.”
“Israel is not limiting itself to Gaza and West Bank; by carrying out attacks on Syria, Iran, Yemen, and Lebanon, it is also threatening regional peace,” he added.
In fact "there is no war in Gaza," he said, as the Israeli army is using the most modern, deadliest weapons against innocent civilians.
The Turkish leader said Israel “completely lost control” after its attack on Qatar earlier this month, proving that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has no intention of (seeking) peace or freeing hostages.”
Obsessed with what it calls the “promised land,” the Israeli administration is undermining regional peace and humanity's common achievements with its expansionist policy, said Erdogan.
He said Israeli attacks have pushed aside basic human, women's, and children's rights, and freedom of expression, protest, equality, and justice
The perpetrators of the genocide must be held accountable under international law, which “will certainly happen,” Erdogan said.