Erdogan says Gaza ‘shame of humanity’, calls for permanent ceasfire

Erdogan was received by Albania’s President Bajram Begaj – Copyright AFP Bryan R. SMITH

Briseida MEMA

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed his attacks on Israel as he arrived in Tirana Thursday, the first stop of a Balkans tour that will also take him to Serbia.

Repeating his claim that Israel’s actions in Gaza constituted “genocide”, he branded it the “shame of humanity”, at a joint press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

“The international community, we must do our best to urgently guarantee a permanent ceasefire and exert the necessary pressure on Israel,” he added.

“The genocide that has been going on in Gaza for the past year is the common shame of all humanity,” he added.

The Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

According to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, 42,065 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, mostly civilians. The UN has said the figures are reliable.

Erdogan has branded Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the “butcher of Gaza” and compared him to Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler. 

“The aggression led by the Netanyahu government now threatens the world order beyond the region,” Erdogan said.

– Great Mosque of Tirana –

Later Thursday Erdogan, accompanied by Prime Minister Edi Rama, inaugurated the Great Mosque of Tirana.

The largest Muslim place of worship in the Balkans, it has a capacity of up to 10,000 people. The project, funded by Turkey, cost 30 million euros.

Turkey is also a major employer in Albania. As Erdogan said in February, over 600 Turkish companies operate in the country, providing jobs to more than 15,000 workers.

It is also one of the five biggest foreign investors in Albania, he said, with $3.5 billion (3.2 billion euros) committed.

The two NATO member countries also have close military ties, with Turkey supplying Tirana with its Bayraktar TB2 drones.

– Serbia visit –

For the second stage of his tour Erdogan travelled from Albania to Serbia, where he was greeted at Belgrade airport by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Turkey made a diplomatic comeback here in 2017 when Erdogan made a landmark visit to Belgrade.

The five century Ottoman presence in Serbia has traditionally weighed heavily on Belgrade-Ankara relations.

Another source of tension has been Turkey’s historic ties with Serbia’s former breakaway province of Kosovo. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a move Belgrade still refuses to recognise.

Erdogan’s 2017 visit repaired the relationship with Serbia, Belgrade analyst Vuk Vuksanovic told AFP.

But Belgrade was furious last year when Turkey sold drones to Kosovo, something Serbia said was “unacceptable”.

The row could however still be patched up, Vuksanovic insisted.

“I would not be surprised if we see a military deal at the end of this visit,” he said.

He expected talks in Belgrade on Friday to focus on “military cooperation, the position of Turkish companies — and attempts by Belgrade to persuade Ankara to tone down support for Kosovo”.

While the rapprochement is relatively new, economic ties between the two countries are already significant.

Turkish investment in Serbia has rocketed from $1 million to $400 million over the past decade, the Turkey-Serbia business council told Turkey’s Anadolu news agency.

Turkish exports to Serbia hit $2.13 billion in 2022, up from $1.14 billion in 2020, according to official Serbian figures.

Turkish tourists are also important for Serbia, second only to visitor numbers from Bosnia.