Türkiye to declare three-days of national mourning in solidarity with Gaza

Ankara, The Gulf Observer: Türkiye is set to declare a three-day national mourning period in solidarity with Palestine following an Israeli air strike on the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza that killed at least 500 people.

A presidential decree will be announced in response to incessant Israeli attacks on Gaza, said Turkish lawmaker and deputy group chair of AK Party Ozlem Zengin, on Wednesday.

She added that the legislature had condemned in a joint statement Israeli attacks on hospitals, and emphasised that bombing medical facilities is against the laws of war.

The attack has drawn strong condemnation from Türkiye, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calling on all of humanity to take action to stop Israel’s “unprecedented atrocity in Gaza”.

“To strike a hospital where women, children, and innocent civilians are present is the latest example of Israel’s attacks devoid of basic human values,” Erdogan said on X following the attack.

“Bombing hospitals is a grave crime. Massacring people who are receiving medical attention is simply beyond the pale. Targeting civilians is employing terror tactics, pure and simple,” Türkiye’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun also said in a statement on X.