Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Gaza has been turned into “the world’s largest concentration camp” and that international law is “almost suspended,” calling the war in the enclave “a test of humanity for the whole world” on Friday.
“Thousands of children lost a hand, a foot, a part of their body. Gaza has been turned into the world’s largest concentration camp by an arrogant, radical genocide network that sees itself above international law and never tires of killing,” Erdogan said at the International Justice Summit at Istanbul’s Ciragan Palace.
The Turkish president used the summit, hosted by Türkiye’s Justice Ministry, to press his long-running call for U.N. reform, arguing that a system built on the veto power of five countries cannot deliver peace or justice as wars rage from Gaza to Ukraine.
President Erdogan: Gaza truce ‘violated thousands of times’
“In Gaza, for exactly three years, people have been brutally killed before the eyes of the whole world. Civilians are being mercilessly martyred,” Erdogan stated.
He said more than 74,000 Gazans, mostly children and women, had been killed, and that schools, universities, hospitals and places of worship had been struck.
“As you know, a ceasefire was established last year with our country’s contributions. This ceasefire, which our Palestinian brothers abided by, has been violated thousands of times by the Israeli government,” he added.
President Erdogan said 1,500 Palestinians had been killed and more than 5,000 injured since the truce took effect on Oct. 11, 2025.
He said illegal settlement activity in the West Bank continues through state-backed organized crime and violence by fanatical groups, that holy sites in Jerusalem are being raided, and that Israel treats the security of its neighbors as a direct threat.
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