ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday urged the Islamic world to show greater unity in supporting the Palestinians, saying Muslim leaders needed to overcome divisions to combat Israel's "brutality."
Erdogan first addressed thousands in Istanbul at a rally he personally called and barely an hour later chaired an emergency summit of Islamic heads of state he had summoned at a few days notice.
The Turkish strongman has been outspoken over the killing by Israeli forces on Monday of more than 61 Palestinians on the Gaza border as well as the move of the US embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. "The time has come to stand against Israel's tyranny," Erdogan told a sea of protesters waving Turkish and Palestinian flags.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Israel was "imitating Hitler and Mussolini" by occupying Palestinian territory and disregarding international law.
A draft summit communique called for "international protection for the Palestinian people" and condemns Israel's "criminal" actions against "unarmed civilians."
The text also accused the US administration of "encouraging the crimes of Israel."
The text also accused the US administration of "encouraging the crimes of Israel."
This
is the second emergency OIC meeting Erdogan has hosted in the space of
half a year after the December 2017 summit, also in Istanbul, that
denounced US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as
the capital of Israel.