Turkish Parliament convenes in extraordinary session for Gaza

Massacres continue in Gaza, which is under Israeli occupation. The occupying Israel is also killing children and women. On July 22, the United Nations declared a famine in Gaza, where children die every day.

Following the UN's famine decision, the CHP was the first party in Turkey to take action against the situation.

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel called for the TBMM to convene in an extraordinary session for Gaza:

"We are calling the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to an extraordinary meeting to take action against the genocide, displacement, and the emptying of the region by sweeping it toward the south, and against the famine occurring there."

Upon Özel's instruction, CHP officials met with representatives of all political parties. In a statement on July 22, Özel had announced that Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş had not exercised his 'authority' to convene an extraordinary session.

The first response from the government to the CHP's Gaza call came from MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli. Bahçeli had said, "The CHP Chairman's announcement that they will call the TBMM to an extraordinary meeting, and basing this on the exploitation of Gaza, is a futile consolation. There is nothing left to be said regarding the Gaza tragedy. It is time for work and action, not words."

KURTULMUŞ TAKES ACTION UPON ÖZEL'S CALL

Following the CHP's call, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş took action.

Kurtulmuş sent the following call letter to the TBMM Presidency:

"It has been notified by the Presidency of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. I am calling the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to an extraordinary meeting on Friday, August 29, 2025, at 14:00, in accordance with Article 93 of the Constitution and Article 7 of the Rules of Procedure of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, in order to meet the request of the executive within the scope of the 2nd paragraph of Article 59 of the Rules of Procedure of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, for the purpose of informing the Grand National Assembly of Turkey regarding Israel's attack on Gaza, the genocide and persecution it has committed against the Palestinian people, its famine policies, and the current situation in the region. I request that the honorable deputies attend the General Assembly meeting on the specified day and time."

Following Kurtulmuş's call, the TBMM convened today at 14:00 with the required quorum. Kurtulmuş delivered the opening speech in Parliament.

Stating, "Today, I propose that concrete steps be taken urgently and that Israel's membership in all international organizations, including the United Nations, be suspended until it turns back from its genocide policies and gives them up; I am declaring this to the international community," Kurtulmuş's speech is as follows:

"Honorable deputies, six joint declarations and presidential motions have been adopted by the General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey during this period we are in, that is, the 28th legislative term, regarding the genocide and persecution Israel has carried out in Gaza and all occupied Palestinian territories, as well as its aggression and expansionist actions in the region.

Today, we have come together to discuss Israel's escalation of its aggression against the Palestinian people, its transition to a new dimension in genocide by using the famine in Gaza as a weapon of destruction, and its attempt to completely annex Gaza.

It is seen that the occupation, destruction, and annexation policies that Israel has been pursuing against the Palestinian people for decades have long since exceeded the dimensions of genocide over the last two years. In fact, we are at a point where words are no longer sufficient. Neither the words persecution, nor atrocity, nor barbarism, nor massacre, nor genocide are sufficient to define what Zionist Israel has done.

So far, nearly 70 thousand people, the vast majority of whom are women and children, have been slaughtered. Civilian infrastructure has been deliberately targeted, and schools, places of worship, and hospitals have been basely bombed.

Just a few days ago, in the attacks on the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, dozens of innocent people, including patients, healthcare workers, and international press members, were slaughtered before the eyes of the world.

33 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza have either been completely destroyed or have sustained very heavy damage. In other words, healthcare services in Gaza have effectively reached a point where they cannot be provided. Hunger and famine have been used as a method of extermination against innocent people for months.

So much so that even food aid convoys have been turned into death traps by Zionist barbarians. Israel continues to commit crimes against humanity by deciding to expand its occupation operation in Gaza. It has also been confirmed by the United Nations and other international organizations that Israel knowingly and willingly condemns the people of Gaza to hunger and famine.

Israel must immediately accept a ceasefire and withdraw all its armed units from the region. The urgent reconstruction of Gaza must be ensured based on the prepared international humanitarian aid and reconstruction plans. The administration of the region should belong to the Palestinians, and its security should be guaranteed by a United Nations peacekeeping force.

In fact, as the President of Ireland also expressed in recent days, the dispatch of a force by the United Nations to ensure humanitarian aid conditions in Gaza must be provided immediately.

Valuable deputies, as you know, Israel's barbarism is not limited to Gaza. The violence it applies to Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank through its armed forces and usurper settlers has been recklessly increased, and it has accelerated its land occupation, illegal demolition, and settlement construction. Finally, the decision to create a new illegal settlement in the lands defined as the E-1 area, which is a very sensitive region, with the aim of separating East Jerusalem from the West Bank, has caused great outrage in the international community.

Honorable deputies, on the other hand, the Israeli Parliament is also adopting laws that prohibit the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in a manner contrary to international law, preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza and the West Bank, seizing Palestinian lands, and taking decisions calling for the annexation of Palestinian lands.

In short, every action of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories is a clear violation of international law, a war crime, and genocide. Honorable deputies, the reaction of peoples in every corner of the world against the ruthless actions of the genocidal Netanyahu gang is increasing and growing day by day. The front of humanity is raising its voice even more against this gang of murderers, regardless of language, religion, race, or geography, and Zionist Israel is being condemned in almost every country and every capital of the world. For this reason, even Western country governments and parliaments that have supported Israel by remaining silent or producing excuses until recently have begun to react to Israel.

Western countries are preparing to take the decision to recognize Palestine next month. Many Western countries are about to take sanction decisions against Israel, even if they are insufficient.

Essentially, our country, in particular, and Asian, African, and Latin American states are playing a leading role in this regard. Pressures are increasing and voices are rising in world parliaments for more effective sanctions to be applied against Israel, and even opposing stances are causing political problems. Indeed, as an example of this, the resignation of the Dutch Foreign Minister and seven ministers from his party from the coalition after the Dutch Parliament did not take a decision for additional sanctions against Israel has led to a political crisis in the Netherlands.

Even in the US Congress, the number of members who want Israel to accept a ceasefire in Gaza and end its policy of blocking humanitarian aid is increasing. The support given to Israel in American public opinion is also decreasing day by day.

Valuable deputies, we must continue to increase our multi-dimensional and multi-faceted efforts, including in the parliamentary field, to oppose Israel's genocide and annexation policies and to support the front of humanity. We must make every effort we can to ensure that the genocidal Netanyahu and his gang are further isolated in more international areas. For this purpose, there have been important steps taken by our Ghazi Parliament.

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey has strongly condemned Israel's massacres in Palestine and its attacks in the region repeatedly with the decisions it has taken unanimously. Our Parliament has also made an active contribution to the process of Turkey's intervention in the case filed by the Republic of South Africa at the International Court of Justice on the charge that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

As you will remember, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas here last year, making a great contribution to the voice of the Palestinian state being heard in the international community. Our Parliament supports the Inter-Parliamentary Jerusalem Platform.

In addition, the Group of Parliaments Supporting Palestine, which we established in Istanbul under the leadership of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in April this year, is a candidate to be one of the leading organizations in the international struggle for the Palestinian cause at the institutional level.

Valuable deputies, at the P20 Speakers' Summit we attended in Brazil on November 7, 2024, I stated that the time has come to discuss the suspension of Israel's United Nations membership. Unfortunately, we are now at the point where words have ended.

Before our eyes, a people is being slaughtered with its women, children, elderly, and youth. They are even being condemned to death by starvation. Today, I propose that concrete steps be taken urgently and that Israel's membership in all international organizations, including the United Nations, be suspended until it turns back from its genocide policies and gives them up; I am declaring this to the international community.

Our Parliament, with all its political groups and all its deputies, will continue to lead and contribute to international efforts aimed at defending the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, the recognition of the Palestinian state by more countries, the protection of the two-state solution perspective to the end, the stopping of the genocide and colonial crimes that Israel applies in the occupied Palestinian territories, and ensuring that those responsible are held accountable in courts.

The extraordinary meeting of our Supreme Parliament today is undoubtedly a requirement of this historical responsibility. Defending the just cause of the innocent and oppressed Palestinian people is a humanitarian, Islamic, and historical responsibility for us. The Palestinian cause, no matter what anyone says, is a national cause for us, for Turkey, and for our nation. I promise here once again that we, as the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, will support and lead this struggle until we ensure the establishment of a fully free and sovereign Palestinian state.

With these feelings, I greet your Supreme Parliament with respect."