Ali Erbaş, head of Türkiye's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) delivered a letter from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Pope Francis during his visit to the Vatican on Saturday. In the letter, Erdoğan said: "Humanity must prevent further violations of international law in Gaza."
Erdoğan also stated that humanity should speak out against the bombing of hospitals, schools, mosques and churches, emphasizing that these should never be targeted, even in times of war. "Without a fair resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli issue, establishing lasting peace and stability in the Middle East is not possible," he added. "It is impossible to establish lasting peace and stability in the Middle East without a just solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. An independent, sovereign and geographically integrated Palestinian State within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, must emerge and take its place in the global system as an equal member of the international community," Erdoğan also underlined.
Erdoğan further emphasized in the letter that Türkiye has become the second-largest country providing aid to Gaza, with nearly 45,000 tons of humanitarian supplies since Oct. 7, 2023. "The treatment of 429 sick and wounded Gazans, including Christians, with 450 persons accompanying them, continues in Türkiye," he also said.
The Turkish president stated that killing is forbidden in all Abrahamic faiths, adding that humanity "must no longer allow international law and international humanitarian law to be trampled on in Gaza." "It must raise its voice against the deliberate bombing of hospitals, schools, mosques and churches that should not be violated, even in wartime," he said.
The president also touched upon international cooperation in humanitarian efforts for Gaza. "The challenges that we face, particularly the indiscriminate Israeli attacks in Gaza, where deaths by starvation occur due to the failure to deliver humanitarian aid even during the holy month of Ramadan, and the global impact of the Ukraine War, which is now in its third year, require the international community to act in cooperation and coordination," he said.
Erdoğan reiterated Türkiye's support for Ukraine's territorial integrity in the letter. "Türkiye, while supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine since the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, with its motto of humanitarian diplomacy, has also been, and continues to be, at the forefront in the defense of the right to life of the innocent Palestinian civilians and their just cause," he said. Mentioning that hateful ideologies such as Islamophobia, racism and xenophobia "are spreading worldwide," Erdoğan called for "inclusive and rational policies." "With this mindset, we are determined to further develop our dialogue and cooperation with the Holy City to promote a culture of peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding, on the basis of our common human values and our aim to serve world peace," he said.
Speaking to reporters in the Vatican, Ali Erbaş said the Pope told him that he was grateful for what Erdoğan has done. "Pope Francis emphasized that our president is one of the few leaders who works hard for world peace, and who has the power to achieve this," Erbaş said. "For this reason, he asked us to personally convey his greetings to him and said: 'I thank you very much for what he has done,'" he said.
Erbaş also said that the focus of their meeting was "the murders, massacres and crimes against humanity committed by Israel in Palestine." "Jerusalem, the symbol of peace and coexistence, is under Israeli oppression, everywhere, regardless of Muslims or Christians, babies or innocent children, mosques or churches. We are faced with a situation where everyone, including children, the elderly, sick and women, are being massacred," Erbaş also added. "We expressed the need to work together to put an end to this situation and to draw more attention to Palestine and Gaza and to stop the Israeli oppression."
Since Israel has waged a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Hamas group on Oct. 7, at least 33,686 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children. The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N. Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
