Istanbul, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
has called on Muslim leaders to unite and confront Israel,
days after scores of Palestinians were killed by Israeli
snipers as they marked 70 years of Israeli occupation.
Speaking at an extraordinary summit of the Organisation
of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Friday, Erdogan said
Israel should be held accountable over the killings which
drew widespread international condemnation and
triggered a wave of protests from Asia, through the
Middle East, to North Africa.
"To take action for Palestinians massacred by Israeli
bandits is to show the whole world that humanity is not
dead," Erdogan told the group of Muslim leaders
gathered in Turkey's largest city, Istanbul.
The Turkish president described Israel's killing of
Palestinians as "thuggery, atrocity and state terror," and
said the US' recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital
would inevitably haunt it.
'US part of the problem'
On Monday, just as the US went ahead with the
controversial relocation of its embassy to Jerusalem, 62
Palestinians, including five children, were killed and more
than 2,700 wounded as the Israeli army fired live
ammunition and tear gas at protesters who had
assembled hundreds of metres from a 1949 armistice line
between Gaza and Israel.
The protesters in the besieged enclave had gathered to
commemorate Nakba Day - an event in 1948 when
Zionist paramilitaries ethnically cleansed Palestinian
cities and towns. About 750,000 people were forcibly
expelled from historical Palestine.
The Istanbul summit was attended by several heads of
state, but Saudi Arabia, the host of the 57-member OIC,
sent only a senior foreign ministry official. Egypt, Bahrain
and the UAE also deployed lower level ministers.
Speaking at the conference, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim
bin Hamad Al Thani said the Palestinian cause had
"become a symbol for oppressed peoples everywhere"
and condemned Israel for "brutal massacre" of peaceful
demonstrators.
"Who among us does not know the declared siege forced
on Gaza Strip and collective punishment against its
population?" the emir said.
"The Gaza Strip has been transformed into a large
concentration camp for millions of people who are
deprived of their most basic rights to travel, education,
work and medical treatment.
"When their sons take arms they are called terrorists,
and when they stage peaceful demonstrations they are
called extremists, and are shot dead with live
ammunition."
For his part, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah
said the US had become "part of the problem and not
the solution" and called the relocation of the embassy
"an act of aggression against the Islamic nation, against
Muslims and Christians".
Jordanian King Abdullah II urged for the adoption of
urgent measures to back "the resistance of Palestinians",
while Iranian President Hasan Rouhani called for
economic and political measures against the US and
Israel.
Late on Friday, the OIC issued a final communique calling
on the United Nations to form an international
investigation into the killings in Gaza; the creation of an
international protection force for Palestinians, and for the
OIC to place economic restrictions on any countries,
companies or individuals who recognise Israel's
annexation of Jerusalem.
Thousands protest in solidarity with Palestine
Earlier in the day, Erdogan told a raucous crowd of more
than 10,000 people in Istanbul's Yenikapi fairground that
the Muslim world had to unite and "pull themselves back
together".
Palestine rally: Iran protest against Israel's Gaza killings
"Muslims are way too busy fighting and disagreeing with
themselves, and shy away when confronted by their
enemies," he told the audience.
"Since 1947, Israel has been free to do what it likes in
this region. They do whatever they feel like. But this
reality can be undone … if we unite."
Earlier this week, Turkey recalled its envoys to Israel and
the US following the killings of the Palestinians and the
relocation of Washington's embassy from Jerusalem to
Tel Aviv.
Tolgar Memis, a German-Turk, said he came to the rally
to support Erdogan's recent remarks and policies against
Israel.
"What we've seen over the last few years, all the injustice,
and what happened earlier this week - it's simply
unacceptable.
"Erdogan has made great strides in defending the
Palestinians, something he is obligated to do, and
hopefully other leaders will follow his cue."