Erdogan says UN Security Council has ‘deepened’ Gaza crisis

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused the United Nations Security Council of deepening the crisis in Gaza by bowing to the “Israeli regime”.

Erdogan, a fervent supporter of the Palestinian cause, had taken a more measured tone in the first days of the war, calling on both sides for restraint.

But he become much more vocal after the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza was hit one week ago, leading to large and angry protests across the Muslim world.

“The international community is not rising to the challenge in the face of the Israeli regime’s unlawful and unrestrained attacks against civilians,” Erdogan said in a statement marking the 78th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations.

“We observe that the United Nations Security Council has deepened the crisis with its one-sided attitude, instead of stopping the bloodshed, ensuring a ceasefire as soon as possible, and taking steps to prevent civilian casualties,” Erdogan said.

Israel was left stunned after militants from the Palestinian Islamist movement stormed across the Gaza border on October 7 and went on a rampage that Israeli officials say killed more than 1,400 people.

They also snatched more than 220 hostages in the worst-ever attack in Israel’s history, that has prompted a ferocious Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian territory which Gaza’s Hamas rulers say has killed 5,791 people.

Erdogan’s comments appeared moments after he spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country is one of the five permanent Security Council members, alongside Britain, China, France and the United States.

The council “can only look on (at) the collective punishment of the people of Gaza,” Erdogan said, accusing it of paralysing the work of the UN agency in charge of helping Palestinian refugees.

“However, we remain a strong supporter and defender of the values represented by the (broader) United Nations and the principle of multilateralism, which are at the heart of the rules-based global system,” he said.