Ali Kemal Akan
05 March 2024•Update: 06 March 2024
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast
Turkish Parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus called Monday for the Islamic world to stand with Palestine in their struggle against occupation and genocide.
"I would like to express that the Islamic world should be ready for a very intense struggle for Palestine in the coming period," Kurtulmus told the 18th Conference of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC) which was held in Ivory Coast.
He said the issue of Palestine should be "the number one issue" of the Islamic world and "one of the most fundamental problems" of humanity.
"Especially after Oct. 7, Israel is continuing to carry out a massacre that has never been seen in human history, and unfortunately, while we are talking here, the continuation of attacks in Gaza in which dozens of our brothers were martyred is not a situation that can be stopped only with words," Kurtulmus said.
He added that the Islamic world should intensify the struggle for the Palestinian cause while using power to isolate the Israeli government in the international system and achieving unity among Muslim countries.
"We may have political differences. We may disagree on some issues. But in terms of our general stance, we need to be in alliance and close our ranks on fundamental issues that concern Muslim communities," he said.
Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed 30,534 people and injured 71,920 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
*Writing by Diyar Guldogan from Washington, D.C.
