President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday said he did not approach Hamas as a terrorist organization and defended it as a resistance group defending its lands in the Gaza Strip.
“From 1947 until today, Palestine has come to this day by losing its lands over and over again,” Erdoğan said in an interview with U.S.-based NBC News.
When asked by host Keir Simmons about “there are those who criticize you, Türkiye, for providing a home for Hamas, who the U.S. says is a terrorist, and you say that you are opposed to terrorism,” Erdoğan said: “We are, of course, against terrorists.”
“But I am one of the leaders who knows Hamas well. I have never called Hamas a terrorist organization and I do not view Hamas as a terrorist organization.
“Because Hamas is a resistance group that strives to protect its lands. Therefore, how can I call such a resistance group a terrorist organization?” Erdoğan said.
Under Erdoğan, the Turkish government has maintained close ties with the Hamas administration, including hosting its political leaders in Ankara to discuss cease-fire efforts or arranging meetings with the heads of other Palestinian movements like Fatah.
Replying to a question on the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas against Israel, Erdoğan said the backdrop of the incident should be examined.
“We need to know the reasons that prepared the conditions for Oct. 7. We need to understand them well. And when we examine the background of how many Palestinians were martyred, how many Palestinians were killed, the situation reaches very, very different levels,” he added.
Türkiye strongly supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, including the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by Hamas last October, despite a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 41,500 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed and around 96,100 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its actions in Gaza, in which Türkiye has also applied to be an official party against Israel.
In a scathing address at the U.N. General Assembly earlier on Tuesday, Erdoğan put Israel on blast for dragging the entire region into war after Israeli strikes killed over 550 people in Lebanon.
“Not only children but also the U.N. system is dying in Gaza,” Erdoğan said.
He also called the U.N. a “dysfunctional, unwieldy and inert structure” and told delegates that “international peace and security are too important to be left to the arbitrariness of the privileged five” permanent members of the Security Council.
He called for the Security Council to impose sanctions on Israel and said the general assembly should recommend the use of force to achieve an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the exchange of prisoners and the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid.
Ukraine’s NATO bid
During the interview, when asked about Ankara’s view on Ukraine’s NATO membership bid, Erdoğan said that Türkiye would consider the positions of all NATO countries on this issue.
“America does not want Ukraine to join NATO in the first place. Many NATO countries do not want Ukraine to join NATO either. We need to recognize these facts and make our decision,” the president said.
Erdoğan said the question of Ukraine’s NATO membership requires thorough consideration: “When we look at these facts, these are not issues to be approached with excitement.”
“When we make our decisions on these issues, of course, we put the stance of all NATO members on the table and make our decisions accordingly,” he said, adding that Türkiye’s final decision will come after considering the positions of other member nations.
“These decisions are not made in haste,” said the president.
Ukraine has openly expressed its desire to join the NATO alliance.
While NATO has not yet offered Ukraine membership, the alliance has significantly strengthened its ties with Kyiv since the war with Russia began in February 2022.
Also, in his U.N. speech, Erdoğan said Türkiye would increase its support for efforts to end the war through diplomacy and dialogue “based on Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
