Turkey blocks NATO-Israeli cooperation over war on Gaza: Reuters
4 Min Read
"Israel" holds the position of NATO partner and has maintained tight ties with the military alliance and certain of its members, most notably its main ally, the United States.
-
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the media after their talks at the presidential palace in Ankara on November 8, 2022. (AP)
Turkey has hampered NATO-"Israel" collaboration since October due to the war on Gaza, saying the alliance should not interact with the occupation until the aggression ceases, sources told Reuters.
Earlier in July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated during a press conference in Washington after the NATO leaders' summit, that efforts to collaborate with "Israel" within NATO are "not acceptable."
"It is not possible for the Israeli administration, which has trampled on the fundamental values ​​of our alliance, to continue its partnership relationship with NATO," he stressed.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Turkish president highlighted the ongoing Israeli "atrocities" in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in Gaza.
"Israel" holds the position of NATO partner and has maintained tight ties with the military alliance and certain of its members, most notably its main ally, the United States.
Prior to "Israel's" onslaught in Gaza, NATO member Turkey was striving to repair its long-strained relations with "Israel."
Ankara has since taken a sharp turn regarding the occupation, calling its war on Gaza a genocide and comparing Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler, as well as ending all trade with the occupation.
The sources told Reuters anonymously that Turkey has banned all interaction with NATO since October, including joint meetings and drills, citing "Israel's" massacre of Palestinians as a breach of NATO values.
According to the sources, Turkey will maintain this blockade and refuse to let "Israel" continue or develop its engagement with NATO until the violations of international law in Gaza end.
Erdogan: 'Israel' will 'outshine Hitler' for Gaza atrocities
Erdogan on Tuesday said that "Israel" has carried out an atrocity that will “outshine Hitler” as Gaza has become the “world’s largest extermination camp."
During his speech in Ankara, Erdogan said, "Western leaders and organizations whose duty is to ensure international security have only watched this brutality from afar for almost 300 days," adding, “How many more children need to die to see that Israel's invasive policies endanger the entire region? Look, this is not a path that can continue."
He also called to stop "Israel’s" “brutality and barbarism immediately, before it’s too late," stating that it gains its "security" through “aggression, massacres, and land seizure,” like a “terrorist organization".
"The lawless Israeli state is a threat not only to Palestine and Lebanon but to humanity as a whole, to the entire world at this point," Erdogan noted.
Erdogan threatened the Israeli regime on Sunday that Turkey would send forces to occupied Palestine to support the Palestinian people. “We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to Palestine,” he said, referring to the Israeli ongoing genocide in Gaza.
This comes as authorities in the Gaza Strip uncovered yet another set of horrific Israeli crimes committed in Khan Younis, following the withdrawal of occupation forces from the city in the southern part of the besieged territory.
The Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip reported that the number of martyrs' bodies recovered from the eastern part of the city "exceeded expectations", with an initial tally showing approximately 300 Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces.
Moreover, authorities reported that over the past eight days, emergency workers have recovered nearly 300 bodies, most of which were decomposing. Search operations for missing persons are still ongoing.
Emergency workers in Khan Younis face a challenging endeavor, recovering bodies from beneath the rubble amid nearly total destruction, with infrastructure damage reported at 90%.
