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| Image Source: Al-Jazeera |
Addressing hundreds of thousands of supporters, Erdogan accused the West of being the main culprit in the Gaza war.
At a large
pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
Israel was occupying the Gaza Strip, and reiterated his position that Hamas was
not a terrorist organization.
I reiterate
that Hamas is not a terrorist organization. Israel is very angry about this ...
Israel is an occupier, Erdogan speaks clearly because Turkey does not owe you
anything," he told hundreds of thousands of supporters on Saturday.
People gathered
at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport for a rally by Turkey's ruling AK Party to
protest Israel's continued bombing of the Gaza Strip and call for a ceasefire.
Demonstrators
chanted pro-Palestinian slogans and waved Turkish and Palestinian flags at an
event dubbed the "Great Palestine Meeting" on Saturday, as Israel
launched its "expanded" landmines in the Gaza Strip amid a near-total
communications blackout. Proceeded the action.
The rally was
attended by leaders of other political parties as well as media and sports
dignitaries – some of whom were expected to take to the stage during the event,
local media reported.
Erdogan told
the crowd that Western powers were the "main culprits" behind the
Israeli army's "massacre" of Palestinians in Gaza.
"The real
culprit behind the carnage in Gaza is the West."
'End the
Genocide'
Al Jazeera's
Osama bin Javed, reporting from the rally, said it was "one of the
strongest speeches we've ever heard" from the president.
Protesters were
seen wearing headbands that read "We are all Palestinians", "End
the genocide", or "Be the voice of Palestinian children".
Since Friday
evening, Gaza's 2.3 million residents have been cut off from all communications
with each other, as well as with the outside world, as Israeli ground forces
battle Hamas fighters inside the enclave.
According to
Palestinian health officials, at least 7,703 Palestinians, including nearly
3,000 children, have been killed by Israeli bombardment since October 7. More
than 1400 people were killed in Hamas attack on Israel.
Large protest
in London; Banned in Berlin
Meanwhile,
thousands of protesters were seen taking to the streets of London to demand a
ceasefire from the British government. Other rallies were taking place
elsewhere in the UK, including Manchester and Glasgow.
Aerial footage
shows a large crowd turning out for a march organized by the Palestine
Solidarity Campaign, which was due to end outside the Houses of Parliament
after Prime Minister Rishi Singh passed his Downing Street office.
Echoing
Washington's stance, Sink's government has stopped short of calling for a
ceasefire, and instead advocated a humanitarian pause to get aid to people in
Gaza.
Police in
Berlin broke up pro-Palestinian protests again on Friday evening.
More than 100
people were arrested in front of the Brandenburg Gate after a crowd shouted
pro-Palestinian and then anti-police slogans during an unauthorized rally.
Police clashed violently with some of the participants, according to police,
injuring two officers.
Another
pro-Palestinian demonstration involving about 100 people also broke up on
Alexanderplatz in central Berlin on Friday evening. Police said on Saturday
that any protestors were "aggressively approached and continuously removed
from the square".
Authorities in
Berlin have banned most pro-Palestinian rallies or demonstrations in the weeks
since the October 7 attack by Hamas.
(Courtesy: Al-Jazeera)
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