Erdogan continued that his country helps “everyone who has no one.” This also corresponds to the wishes of the founder of the republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. “We are trying to help the people in the Gaza Strip by remaining stubborn in our stance on Palestine and the Gaza Strip,” said the head of state, referring to the war in the Middle East. The day before, he had already described Israel as a “war criminal” and the West as “mainly responsible for the massacres in the Gaza Strip.”
“Our republic is safe and in good hands, as it has never been before,” the head of state said after laying an invalid at Atatürk’s mausoleum in the capital Ankara. “Rest in peace.”
The officer Mustafa Kemal Atatürk proclaimed the republic on October 29, 1923, thereby establishing modern Turkey as the successor to the Ottoman Empire. His far-reaching reforms included the separation of religion and state, the empowerment of women and a new alphabet.
In a nod to the date, Erdogan delivered his speech to the nation at 7:23 p.m. (local time). The founding of the republic had previously been commemorated with military parades in front of parliament in Ankara and in Istanbul. This was followed by a convoy of ships on the Bosphorus, drone maneuvers, fireworks and the illumination of important buildings such as the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Atatürk once turned Hagia Sophia into a museum, but Erdogan had it converted back into a mosque in 2020.
On the eve of the celebrations, Erdogan’s Islamic conservative ruling party AKP organized a large rally “in support of Palestine” at the former Ataturk Airport in Istanbul. The head of state already used this rally in front of hundreds of thousands of participants to launch sharp attacks against Israel and the West and clearly sided with the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip.
“Israel, in front of the whole world we declare you a war criminal,” shouted Erdogan. “What is happening in Gaza is not self-defense, but a massacre.” Israel then withdrew its diplomatic staff from Turkey and said relations would now be reassessed.
Addressing Western politicians, the Turkish head of state said at the rally: “You mourned the children killed in Ukraine, why are you silent in the face of the children killed in the Gaza Strip?” The West is “the main culprit for the massacres in the Gaza Strip.” Everyone knows that Israel cannot take any step without the West, Erdogan continued, accusing Western states of wanting to create “a crusading atmosphere” against Muslims.
In the first weeks after Hamas’ major attack on Israel on October 7th, Erdogan initially held back. A few days ago, however, he said about Hamas, which emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood, that it was not a terrorist organization, but a group of “liberators” who fought for their own country.
Expert Soli Özel from Istanbul’s Kadir Has University raised the question of why the rally was scheduled on the day before the Ataturk memorial. “Wouldn’t that have been until next week?” he asked. Özel interpreted this as a sign that Erdogan does not want to give Atatürk too much honor because he is fighting his secular legacy on numerous points.
