Priya Aditi
Turkey will declares 3 days’ mourning over a deadly strike on a hospital in war-torn Gaza that killed hundreds, a Turkish official told AFP on Wednesday.
A fervent supporter of the Palestinian cause, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned Israel for “attacking a hospital that was providing shelter to children, women, and innocent civilians” in Gaza and has urged the international community to intervene.
Militants from Israel and Palestine have leveled mutual accusations against one another regarding the attack.
The Turkish government will observe three days of national mourning, an unidentified official told AFP.
National mourning, according to Ozlem Zengin of Erdogan’s governing AKP party, would be instituted by presidential decree.
“Demonstrating our level of perception regarding this issue is crucial,” she was reportedly quoted as saying by the private NTV broadcaster.
Erdogan denounced the strike on Tuesday via social media as “the most recent instance of Israeli assaults devoid of the most fundamental human values.”
Turkey’s proclamation of three days of mourning, according to AKP party spokesman Omer Celik, is an expression of solidarity with the innocent Palestinians in Gaza.
“We both experience the same anguish and sorrow,” he stated during a weekly press conference. He stated that he held Israel accountable for the hospital attack.
Protesters gathered in significant numbers in Istanbul and Ankara, the capital of Turkey, late Tuesday, chanting pro-Palestinian slogans.
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Israel has issued a directive for its citizens to promptly evacuate Turkey in anticipation of potential retaliatory assaults.
