President Tayyip Erdogan addressed hundreds of thousands of supporters at one of the largest pro-Palestinian rallies since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, courting his Islamist political base a day before the centenary of Turkey’s secular republic, Reuters reported.

“Israel has been openly committing war crimes for 22 days, but Western leaders cannot even ask Israel for a ceasefire, let alone react to it,” Erdogan told a crowd in Istanbul, waving Palestinian flags.

“We will tell the whole world that Israel is a war criminal. We are preparing for it. We will declare Israel a war criminal,” he said.

In the hour-long speech, Erdogan also reiterated his claim that Hamas is not a terrorist organization, describing Israel as an occupier.

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Turkey has condemned the Israeli civilian deaths caused by a Hamas raid in southern Israel on October 7 that killed 1,400 people, but Erdogan this week called the Palestinian militant group “freedom fighters.”

He also criticized the unconditional support of some Western countries for Israel, drawing sharp criticism from Italy and Israel.

Unlike many NATO allies, the European Union and some Gulf countries, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization.

It has long accepted its members, supports the two-state solution and has offered to take part in negotiations for the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the October 7 attack.

Political analysts said Erdogan wanted to intensify his criticism of Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip and overshadow the Sunday holiday, which marks Turkey’s secular roots.

Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and director of the Center for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies, an Istanbul-based think tank, said the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and pressure from political allies had prompted Erdogan to sharpen his rhetoric.

Turkey “will defend its principles and share them with the international community, but it should do so with more delicate diplomacy if it expects to play such a diplomatic role,” Ulgen said.

Leaders of the allied nationalist and Islamist parties that helped Erdogan win elections in May attended the rally at Istanbul’s old airport.

Erdogan criticized opposition parties for not calling Netanyahu a “terrorist” and using the same term for Hamas.

Erdogan’s rally, which was supposed to overshadow the legend of Atatürk

Erdogan invited all Turks to take part in the rally, where, he said, “only our flag and the flag of Palestine will be flown.” His Islamist AK Party predicted more than a million people would attend.

Analysts say the 100th anniversary of modern Turkey is being celebrated on Sunday, when headlines may be dominated by news of Saturday’s rally rather than celebrations of the republic’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Erdogan, Turkey’s longest-serving leader, and his AKP party have reduced support for the Western ideals of Atatürk, who is revered by most Turks. In recent years, portraits of Erdogan have appeared alongside portraits of Atatürk on government buildings and schools.

“The symbolism is clear and no one in Turkey is ignoring it – the pro-Palestinian rallies are likely to overshadow the centennial celebrations of the secular republic,” said Asli Aydintasbas, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

She said that while Erdogan’s comments on Hamas reflected Ankara’s longstanding position, he was trying to capitalize on domestic anti-Israel sentiment and “strengthen Turkey’s Sunni conservatives.”

The government said the conflict between Israel and Hamas would not limit the 100th anniversary celebrations, for which it has organized events across the country. (Reuters)

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