Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday called out Western powers as "the main culprit" behind Israel's "massacre" of Palestinians in Gaza.
The call came during the "Great Palestine Meeting" held in Istanbul, which was joined by over 1.5 million people, according to the organizers.
President Erdoğan, who has been a leading international supporter of Palestinian rights, unleashed a scathing attack at Israel and its Western supporters.
"The main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza is the West," he told the Turkish and Palestinian flag-waving crowd.
"If we leave aside some conscientious voices ... the massacre in Gaza is entirely the work of the West."
President Erdoğan added that Israel was behaving like a "war criminal."
"Of course, every country has the right to defend itself. But where is the justice in this case?"
He accused Western powers of "shedding tears" over the death of civilians in Ukraine and turning a blind eye on the death of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
"We are against all these double standards and all these hypocrisies," he added.
And he accused Israel's allies of creating a "crusade war atmosphere" pitting Christians against Muslims.
"Listen to our call for dialogue," Erdoğan said. "No one loses from a just peace."
"Israel, we will also declare you as a war criminal to the world, we are preparing for it, and we will introduce Israel to the world as a war criminal,"
Erdoğan stressed that the Western world mobilized its politicians, and media to legitimize the massacre of the innocent people in Gaza, adding: "Israel is committing war crimes."
He also called Israel an "occupier," and added: "West owes you, but Türkiye does not owe you."
Everyone knows that Israel is a pawn in the region that will be sacrificed when the time comes, he said.
"I said in Davos, you know how to kill. They know well how to kill."
Erdoğan also saluted the determination of the people of Gaza in the face of massive Israeli bombardments.
"On behalf of myself, my people, I salute determination of people of Gaza to not abandon their homes, city in face of oppressor's bombardments," he said.
Israel has heavily bombarded Gaza since the Oct. 7 incursion by Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said the Israeli strikes had now killed at least 7,703 people, mainly civilians and many of them children.
Recalling the U.N. General Assembly votes in favor of a resolution calling for a "humanitarian truce" in Gaza, Erdoğan said: "Israel, you are doomed to be left alone."
The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution Friday that called for an immediate "durable and sustained humanitarian truce" in Gaza.
The resolution, which was presented by nearly 50 countries, including Türkiye, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was approved in a 120-14 vote with 45 nations abstaining.
Adopted at the 10th Emergency Special Session meeting on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the draft resolution expresses "grave concern" about the "latest escalation of violence."
Türkiye does not condone attacks targeting civilians in Israel, said Erdoğan, adding: "We are saddened for every civilian in any way, but Israel does not care."
