Turkish President Erdogan hails Spanish Premier Sanchez's stance on Gaza

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday applauded Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for his stance on the ongoing crisis in Gaza.

"I congratulate my dear friend, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, for his stance on Gaza, on behalf of myself and my nation," Erdogan said in an address at a business forum in the Spanish capital Madrid, adding that Sanchez "has been etched in the hearts of our Palestinian brothers."

Erdogan is in Spain on an official visit to attend the eighth intergovernmental summit between the two nations.

"The genocide that has been going on in Gaza for 250 days hurts everyone with conscience," the Turkish president added at the forum, which Sanchez also attended.

He also took aim at what he called Israel's "spoiled attitude," saying that the country's government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "responds to calls for a cease-fire by shedding blood."

"No country with a conscience can accept this," said Erdogan.

He also touched upon Türkiye's relations with the EU.

"The failure to update the Customs Union and strict visa applications imposed on our businesspeople prevent the full use of our common potential with the bloc," he said.

More than 37,200 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 84,900 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered it to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.