TEHRAN – On Wednesday, Turkey’s ambassador in Iran called on Muslim nations around the world to ramp up efforts to help Palestinians as he called the latest Israeli war on the besieged Gaza Strip a “brutal massacre”.

“The war Israel is waging against Gaza is nothing but a genocide. Sadly, most Islamic countries have not yet managed to take effective steps to help the Palestinians. All of us should take lessons from South Africa which has managed to expose Israeli crimes against humanity by filing a genocide case against the regime in the International Court of Justice,” Hicabi Kirlangic told the Tehran Times on the sidelines of the 24th Iran Media Exhibition.

The envoy explained that various countries have taken diplomatic steps to help the Palestinians, but more has to be done in order to prevent the loss of more Palestinian lives. 

Since the beginning of the Gaza war on October 7th, Turkish authorities including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have heavily criticized Israel for its genocidal war on the besieged enclave. Erdogan has called Israel a “terror state” that’s committing war crimes and violating international law.

Despite the harsh stance, however, the people of Turkey and various politicians inside the country have criticized the government for failing to cut economic and trade ties with the regime. Some reports have suggested that Turkish exports to the occupied territories have actually increased in the past 4 months.

The ambassador also told the Tehran Times that he hopes Iran and Turkey can expand cooperation in different fields, including media.

“Turkish media outlets are active in Iran and we also have many Iranian organizations and companies making reports around Turkey with permanent offices in Ankara and Istanbul. But I hope to see more cooperation in the future. Both countries should try to strengthen collaboration”.