“Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but a group of liberation fighters who fight to protect their lands and citizens,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a speech to the Turkish parliament on Wednesday. (25).
He also announced that his trip to Israel had been cancelled.
“The West has come together and sees Hamas as a terrorist organization. Israel, you can act like an organization, because the West owes you a lot. But Turkey owes you nothing,” Erdogan told congressmen.
But, after all, what is Hamas? Hamas is a radical Islamic group with a military wing. The word “Hamas” itself is an acronym for “Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamiyya” – which in Arabic means Islamic Resistance Movement.
The group, like most Palestinian factions and political parties, insists that Israel is an invading power in the Gaza Strip and that its mission is to liberate the Palestinian territories. Over the years, the group has claimed many attacks on Israel and has been characterized as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union (EU) and Israel.
The October 7 attacks were unprecedented, causing the deaths of more than 1,400 people in southern Israel. Hamas also captured more than 200 people hostage and took them to Gaza. In response, the Jewish-majority country has carried out a series of attacks on the Gaza Strip which have killed thousands of Palestinian civilians.
Erdogan said Turkey “has no problems with the State of Israel” but added that Turkey “never approved the atrocities committed by Israel.”
Erdogan highlighted that approximately half of those killed in Israel’s attacks on Gaza are children. “We say, don’t kill children. Killing people, women and children – innocent people, for days on end is not justifiable, even if it is in response to some acts that we do not tolerate.”
Since October 7, the Israeli military has launched relentless attacks and a total blockade of Palestinian territory, killing at least 5,087 people, including 2,055 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Erdogan also added that the West continues to censor and silence academics, university students and other opinion makers regarding Israel’s successive attacks, but Turkey’s doors are open to “any university student or others due to its honorable position [de defender os palestinos]”, he said.
Source: CNN Brasil
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