Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş has led intense diplomacy to stop Israel’s brutal attacks on the Gaza Strip, buttress the humanitarian front and move the international community into action.
Kurtulmuş has been backing Ankara’s efforts for Gaza through parliamentary diplomacy, bringing up the war on the blockaded enclave at every official meeting and visit overseas.
Since the latest round of the conflict broke out on Oct. 7 with Israel’s deadly retaliation to Hamas’ incursion into southern Israel, Kurtulmuş met nearly 200 foreign government representatives, including heads of state and Parliament speakers.
He discussed Gaza with dozens of his counterparts and delegations, including those from Russia, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on the sidelines of the G-20 Parliamentary Speakers (P20) Summit in India on Oct. 12-14, 2023.
Weeks later, in October 2024, Kurtulmuş visited Czechia for the second parliamentary summit of the Crimea Platform.
In a formal visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina later on Nov. 2-4, the Parliament speaker pointed out a near history of the world’s largest massacres and genocides in a speech at the International Sarajevo University.
“Just as the butchers of Auschwitz and Srebrenica went to international courts and stood to account, those responsible for the massacre in Gaza today will definitely appear before the international criminal court and pay for what they did,” Kurtulmuş said. “Those who remain silent and turn a blind eye to this massacre will be held accountable, too.”
Later in November, Kurtulmuş urged action for Gaza at the ninth meeting of the parliamentary speakers of MIKTA, an informal consultation and coordination platform among Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Türkiye and Australia.
Through late December, he toured Gulf nations like Kuwait, Bahrein and the UAE and called attention to Israel’s attacks during the 14th general assembly of the Asia Parliamentary Assembly (APA) in Azerbaijan in February.
In March, when the war on Gaza reached its sixth-month mark and the devastating death toll from Israeli aggression surpassed 31,000 Palestinians, Kurtulmuş was in the Ivory Coast for the 18th Islamic Cooperation Parliamentary Assembly Conference.
On May 5-7, Kurtulmuş paid a visit to Mexico for the 10th meeting of parliamentary speakers of MIKTA.
In his contacts, Kurtulmuş underscored that Israel’s attacks on Gaza have reached the point of “genocide” and claimed thousands of innocent lives, 70% of whom were women and children.
“Humanity will never forget the atrocity where babies in incubators thrashed about as they died, as they were killed before the eyes of 8 billion people,” Kurtulmuş said.
The world must learn a lesson from the massacring of humanity, Kurtulmuş told his interlocutors.
He visited Cuba, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in May.
He landed in Azerbaijan on June 5-6 for the 13th general assembly meeting of the Turkic States Parliamentary Assembly.
He urged joint action in bilateral meetings to facilitate an immediate cease-fire and humanitarian aid deliveries in Gaza.
Kurtulmuş expressed the need for Muslim countries to act in unison at every turn.
Additionally, the Parliament speaker hosted his visiting counterparts, state representatives and leaders in Türkiye and held phone conversations with others.
Kurtulmuş emphasized that an independent Palestinian state with 1967 borders and Jerusalem as its capital must be established for peace in the Middle East.
Citing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s “world is bigger than five” motto in reference to veto holders at the U.N. general assembly, Kurtulmuş also called for cooperation to build a brand-new, fair and effective international system based on peace and free of double standards.
