Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences for the death of the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Gahia Sinuar, who was killed in a clash with the Israeli army in Gaza.

Speaking at an event with community leaders from across Turkey, President Erdogan said that “words are no longer enough to describe the massacres that have been happening in Gaza for a year and that extended to Lebanon last month. The USA, Europe and the UN have become playthings in the hands of the criminal called Netanyahu. The West remains silent in the face of the Israeli genocide. The killer of 50,000 innocents is Israel’s illegal occupation forces, but those who unconditionally support the Israeli government are also complicit in this massacre.”

Turning his arrows inside Turkey as well and referring to the mass civil protests of 2013, known as the “Gezi Park episodes”, he said that “we could not see any of those who camped in Taksim for a month during the events of Gezi protesting about Palestine and Lebanon”.

“As Turkey, we are the enemy of the oppressor and the protector of the oppressed. We stand by the Palestinian people in their struggle for dignity and freedom against the genocidal network,” the Turkish president said, adding: “I salute all the heroes of the Palestinian resistance and wish God’s mercy on the recently fallen leader of Hamas, Gahia Sinwar as a witness”.