Occupier terrorism against Palestinians growing bolder under world's indifference: Turkish president

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday criticized the international community's failure to address Israel’s actions in the occupied Palestinian territories, warning that the international system is failing to uphold peace and security. Speaking at the official opening ceremony of the TRT World Forum 2026 at the Istanbul Congress Center, Erdogan said: “Occupier terrorism, which seeks to forcibly displace Palestinians from their ancestral homeland, is growing more and more brazen by the day under the indifferent gaze of the modern world.”

International institutions tasked with ensuring peace, security and stability are once again “watching from the sidelines” as atrocities unfold in Gaza, as previously happened in Rwanda, Srebrenica, and many other places, he said. “They take no action other than watching human tragedies with concern or voicing concern over them,” Erdogan added. “More than 3,000 attacks and violations targeting Palestinians in the West Bank were recorded in October alone,” he said.

Erdogan said that the October 2025 Gaza Peace Agreement, which Türkiye also helped broker, is not being implemented. “Those who turn into lions when it comes to Türkiye suddenly become paper tigers when the issue is the genocide network,” he said, adding: “This is the most blatant form of double standards.” Global system collapsed Underlining that the principle of "pacta sunt servanda" – agreements must be kept – which underpins international relations, is not being upheld, Erdogan said: “Everyone must understand that no problem can be resolved this way.”

The Turkish president warned that global and regional developments show that the system has raised the “white flag of surrender.” “We are going through a turbulent period in which power rivalries are intensifying, rules are being disregarded, the rules-based system is being seriously eroded, and values are undergoing a virtual landslide,” he warned. Underlining that global governance mechanisms are proving inadequate and ineffective in resolving the challenges the world faces, Erdogan said: “All the norms and principles on which the international system is built are being trampled underfoot today.”

“We are all facing a structural crisis in which the old is dying and the new has not yet been born,” he added. “Türkiye has put not just our bodies, but our entire selves, our hearts and souls, into building a fairer world,” Erdogan said. Erdogan highlighted that they are doing everything in their power to ensure the peaceful resolution of all wars, crises and tragedies unfolding across the region stretching from Palestine to Yemen, Sudan, and Ukraine.

“Despite the discomfort of some and attempts by others to derail us and our country through dirty campaigns, we will never back down,” he said. “Whatever the cost, we will continue to courageously voice what we believe to be right, openly share our proposals for solutions, and resolutely defend what is just and true,” said Erdogan. “As people guided by reason and conscience, I believe that it is our shared responsibility to bring this crisis to an end through fair and just solutions,” he added.