Turkish president says Israeli slanders attempt to cover up Gaza genocide

Slanders against Türkiye are Israel’s attempts to cover up its “barbarity in Gaza,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Addressing the media after a Cabinet meeting in Ankara on Tuesday, Erdogan said “we pay no heed to the slanders directed at our country by the murder network that has the blood of 75,000 innocent people in Gaza, mostly children and women, on its hands.”

Türkiye’s history, he said, includes the virtue of giving refuge to those fleeing Nazi persecution and “those who slander Türkiye to cover up their barbarity in Gaza know it best.”

Erdogan also expressed support for Venezuela, which was hit by twin earthquakes on June 24, saying Türkiye stands with the “friendly and brotherly” Venezuelan people “with all our means.”

He underlined the importance of Türkiye’s space ambitions, saying developing satellite capabilities is “a necessity, not a choice” for the country.