Turkish Parliament Speaker Labels Israel's Gaza Actions 'Genocide'

Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus has strongly condemned Israel's military operations in Gaza, characterizing them as a genocide that surpasses the crimes of any terrorist organization. He delivered these remarks at the Global Parliamentary Conference on Counter-Terrorism in Istanbul, organized by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, marking two years since the conflict's escalation.

Kurtulmus criticized what he called the "grave lesson" of countries that profess to combat terrorism yet remain silent in the face of what he termed Israeli "state terrorism." He stated that "even if you brought together all the terrorist organizations in the world, they could not commit a crime against humanity greater than the genocide the terrorist Israeli regime has carried out against the people of Gaza over the past two years." He cited UN figures indicating over 70,000 civilian deaths, with 80% being women and children.

The parliamentary speaker emphasized that terrorism represents a human-made disaster requiring international cooperation to combat. He argued that "no country can combat terrorism alone" and called for a "collective determination" and "joint platform for cooperation" to strengthen institutional capacities against terrorist threats worldwide. He specifically highlighted the need to address root causes like human rights violations and social inequalities.

Kurtulmus announced that Türkiye is finalizing its own comprehensive model for preventing terrorism, drawing on five decades of experience fighting terrorist groups. He strongly criticized proxy wars, describing them as "a dark stain on the history of international relations," and asserted that "if major powers stopped arming, financing, and politically backing these proxy groups, there would be no terrorist groups left anywhere in the world within a week or 10 days."