Turkey's foreign ministry announced on Sunday that it has submitted a letter to the United Nations, endorsed by 52 countries and two organizations, urging a halt to arms deliveries to Israel, AFP reported.
“We have written a joint letter calling on all countries to stop the sale of arms and ammunition to Israel. We delivered this letter, which has 54 signatories, to the UN on November 1,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan at a press conference in Djibouti, where he attended a Turkey-Africa partnership summit, according to the report.
“We must repeat at every opportunity that selling arms to Israel means participating in its genocide,” Fidan continued, adding that the letter represents “an initiative launched by Turkey.”
The signatories include Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Algeria, China, Iran, and Russia, along with the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
After years of tensions, Israel and Turkey were headed towards reconciliation before Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, but Erdogan has resumed his frequent verbal attacks on Israel since that time.
In one speech, the Turkish President said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “committed one of the greatest atrocities of this century in Gaza and has already put his name down in history as the butcher of Gaza."
In July, Erdogan threatened to invade Israel, saying, "We must be strong so Israel won't be able to do these things to the Palestinians. Just as we entered Karabakh and Libya, we will do the same to Israel. There's nothing left to do, we must be strong."
He then continued to lash out at Israel, claiming that it "committed acts of barbarism" and that "Gaza has become the world's largest concentration camp."
Last month, Erdogan called on the United Nations General Assembly to invoke the use of force, referencing a resolution passed in 1950, if the UN Security Council is unable to halt Israel's strikes in Gaza and Lebanon.
Several weeks later, he claimed that “Israel is the most concrete threat to regional and global peace.”