Zafer Party leader Ümit Özdağ: No national mourning was declared when our 33 soldiers were martyred

Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ criticized the decision to declare national mourning in Turkey for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh during the "Öncesi Sonrası Gece" program hosted by Senem Toluay Ilgaz on SÖZCÜ TV. Özdağ emphasized that the decision to declare national mourning is illogical and inconsistent with previous examples.

NO NATIONAL MOURNING WAS DECLARED WHEN OUR 33 SOLDIERS WERE MARTYRED

Özdağ stated that national mourning was not declared when 33 Turkish soldiers were martyred by Russian warplanes, nor for the 13 soldiers and intelligence officers executed by the PKK in Gara, Northern Iraq, in 2021. Özdağ said, "I could increase the number of such examples. Russian warplanes bombed and martyred our 33 soldiers. No national mourning was declared. In 2021, before a rescue operation in Gara, Northern Iraq, 13 of our soldiers and intelligence officers were basely executed by the PKK. Again, no national mourning was declared."

Criticizing the declaration of national mourning for Hamas leader Haniyeh by referencing Palestinian political parties, Özdağ stated, "He is not the head of state in Palestine, he is not the prime minister in Palestine, he is one of the two major parties in Palestine. That is, the Palestine Liberation Organization controls the West Bank, that is one party. Hamas is the other party. National mourning has been declared for the chairman of a political party. This has no logic at all," he said.

Comparing this situation to the fact that no Arab country declared national mourning, Özdağ remarked, "No national mourning was declared in any Arab country."