By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL – Turkiye’s parliament has been working on raising awareness about what Turkish President Erdogan has labeled Israel’s “war crimes” against civilians in Gaza. In two separate joint declarations, all Turkish political parties with a parliamentary group condemned Israel’s incessant bombing of Gaza. To that end, the Turkish Parliament is holding a conference this Wednesday on the situation of Gaza’s civilians with a focus on women and children to be chaired by Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulus. A diverse group have been invited to participate including Palestine’s Women’s Affairs Minister, Amal Hamad, Palestine National Council member Dalal Salameh and a doctor from Al-Shifa Hosptial in Gaza, Ghassan Abu Sittah – they will all participate via video messages. Also, Palestinian students studying at universities in Ankara and who also lost family members in attacks on Gaza will attend the conference. Palestinian doctors will also be present at the conference, too.
Turkiye has been working continuously sending aid to Gazans through the Rafah border crossing and Turkish President Erdogan said last month, that Turkiye and Egypt have been consulting on creating field hospitals in the most crucial places. Many NGOs and aid organizations have given dire warnings about a catastrophic situation in Gaza that is on the brink of spiraling out of control. They said that mass starvation and disease will be the result if aid can’t reach people in Gaza, soon enough. Meanwhile, the World Food Program (WFP) said the risk of famine is extremely high and the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that civilization in Gaza is collapsing. Most hospitals in Gaza are no longer operational with at least two million people displaced, currently.
