"They are people. They are women who are hungry, women with their buckets and pots waiting to receive food. This is the daily reality in Gaza." With these words, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intervened in the 80th session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday in New York. The president dedicated a large part of his 35-minute speech to the war in Israel in the Strip, a conflict he described as "genocide," while showing world leaders two photos of what he calls the "daily life" for Gazans.
"Follow your conscience and answer the following question: Is it possible that we have a reasonable reason for this brutality in 2025?", he asked, showing the first image: a group of hungry women waiting for humanitarian aid. "This shameful image has been repeated for 23 months." Erdogan, who lamented that the war in Gaza "represents the lowest point of humanity," then showed another photograph of a severely malnourished child.
"What kind of human conscience can bear this? How can one remain silent in the face of this? In a world where children die of hunger and lack of medicine, can we be calm and at peace?" emphasized the Turkish president, before adding: "My heart cries tears of blood".
The Turkish president also lamented the "absence" of the President of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Mazen - to whom the United States denied a visa to travel to the General Assembly - especially "at a time when Palestine is being recognized by an increasing number of countries." But, according to Erdogan, this is not enough.
"I stand here, on this platform, alongside my 86 million citizens, and also on behalf of our Palestinian brothers and sisters, whose voices are being silenced. I would like to thank all the countries that have announced their recognition of the State of Palestine, and I call on all other countries that have not yet done so to recognize it as soon as possible," he stated.
Referring to the war, the Turkish president concluded: "We cannot continue with this madness." "The attacks must cease. Humanitarian aid must be able to enter without obstacles," he added, and called for holding the perpetrators of the "genocide" accountable. "All those who remain silent are complicit in this barbarity", Erdogan declared, urging world leaders to "take a firm stand alongside the oppressed Palestinians and alongside humanity."
"Why do your people react to the barbarity being committed in Gaza? Show your courage and act here. Fulfill your humanitarian duty towards Gaza, where children are raising other children," he concluded.