Turkiye’s president calls the war in Gaza an ‘ecocide’ at the UN climate summit

ANTALYA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called for the world to recognize the environmental impacts of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and asked the Israeli government to grant more aid access to the Palestinian territory.

Erdogan was speaking at the UN climate summit, known as COP31, in Antalya, Turkiye.

“What has taken place in Gaza is not only a genocide, but it is also an ecocide,” Erdogan said to applause by world leaders and other climate envoys.

A UN-backed panel of independent experts concluded last year that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Israel vehemently denies the allegations and has accused the panel of antisemitism.