Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday, October 25, 2023, that Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but a group of fighters and a liberation organization that is struggling to defend its people and land.

Erdoğan stated during a speech at a meeting of the parliamentary bloc of his ruling Justice and Development Party today in Ankara, "We will continue our principled position rejecting this injustice that the Palestinian people are currently facing."

The Turkish president also added, "We always view the Palestinian issue from a humanitarian perspective... Since October 7, we have done everything we can and made every effort to prevent the crisis from escalating... We have sent eight planes loaded with humanitarian and medical aid to Al-Arish Airport and dispatched 25 of our medical personnel."

He said, "I would like to emphasize that we do not accept any attacks targeting civilians, even if they are Israelis... We have no problem with the state of Israel, but we do not accept Israel acting as an organization rather than as a state."

Furthermore, Erdoğan pointed out that "since October 7, Israel has been carrying out one of the strongest assaults against Gaza," stating, "What they are doing is intentional brutality against humanity... They are bombarding cities day and night with warplanes, tanks, and artillery to target hospitals, schools, markets, and civilians, and there is no other country doing what Israel is doing."

Erdoğan confirmed that "what Israel is doing constitutes crimes against humanity and genocide against the Palestinians."

He also addressed Israel and the world, saying: "The entire West has come together and agreed that Hamas is a terrorist organization... Perhaps the West owes a lot to Israel, but Turkey does not owe Israel anything... I clearly say that Hamas is not a terrorist organization... They are struggling to defend their people and land... They are a group of fighters and a liberation organization."

The Turkish president noted that he canceled his planned visit to Israel, saying, "Israel misused our good intentions... If they had made good use of our good intentions, our relations would have improved... But now this is not possible."

He also said, "I shook hands with this so-called Netanyahu (Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the occupying entity) once in New York out of goodwill, and we see that they misused our goodwill."

Erdoğan added that "Israel is brutally killing children and women... It is time for those who do not reject to declare their position," and continued, "The massacres against children and the lack of concern about them are part of the legacy of Western countries and their crimes... We can never tolerate Israel's killing of children... The crimes committed by Israel, and those who support these crimes, are proof that they are mentally ill and criminals... They use the pretext of being attacked to commit the most heinous crimes.