Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has sparked fury after he labelled Hamas “freedom fighters” and cancelled his planned trip to Israel.
Erdogan said Hamas was fighting to protect Palestinian lands and accused the West of “adding fuel to the fire”.
The Turkish President also recently cancelled his planned visit to Israel, condemning the “massacre and destruction” in Gaza.
“Hamas is not a terrorist organisation, it is a liberation group, ‘mujahideen’ waging a battle to protect its lands and people,” he told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party.
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“The perpetrators of the massacre and the destruction taking place in Gaza are those providing unlimited support for Israel. Israel's attacks on Gaza, for itself and those supporting them, amount to murder and mental illness.”
Anger erupted online at Erdogan’s comments, where he failed to label the group as terrorists.
Many called for Nato to revoke Turkey’s membership.
One social media user said: “Erdogan is a snake; he is killing the Kurds all the time, he is jailing his opponents in Turkey, he facilitated ISIS members to enter Syria, now he calls Hamas a liberation group, yet Turkey is a Nato member and seeking to join European Union!”
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Hamas' armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades hold a Palestinian flag as they destroy a tank of Israeli forces in Gaza CityGETTYAnother mentioned Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, telling him to “kick Turkey out of Nato!”
A third added: “Someone needs to remind Erdogan that he is a Nato member, or someone needs to kick Turkey out of Nato.”
Erdogan also called for an immediate ceasefire, the unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and for Muslim countries to work together to stop the violence.
“The perpetrators of the massacre and the destruction taking place in Gaza are those providing unlimited support for Israel,” Erdogan said. “Israel’s attacks on Gaza, for both itself and those supporting them, amount to murder and mental illness.”
Israel disregarded Erdogan’s description of Hamas, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat calling the group “a despicable terrorist organisation”.
Erdogan called for an immediate ceasefire
Reuters“Even the Turkish president’s attempt to defend the terrorist organisation and his inciting words will not change the horrors that the whole world has seen,” Haiat wrote on social media.
The comments from the president signal a U-turn from Turkey’s recent attempts to improve relations with the West.
Erdogan initially took a neutral stance when the conflict broke out on October 7.
He condemned the attack and urged Israel to practice restraint in its response.
However now, Erdogan’s views has changed.
Reflecting on his past meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu last month, he said: “If he had continued with good intentions, our relations might have been different, but now that will not happen because they took advantage of our good intentions.”
