 leader Özgür Özel accused President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of hypocrisy concerning Palestine after a US-backed Gaza board that Turkey has joined criticized activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters near Greece.){kind=link}
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel accused President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of hypocrisy concerning Palestine after a US-backed Gaza board that Turkey has joined criticized activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters near Greece.
Özel said Erdoğan’s government could not condemn Israel’s attack on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla while being part of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, a body created under Trump’s Gaza plan to oversee post-ceasefire governance, reconstruction and aid coordination in the enclave.
“You have no feelings for Palestine, you fear Trump,” Özel said in a statement posted on X, according to T24.
“Every word you say before leaving that table is hypocritical and insincere,” he said.
“That table is the table of Gaza’s occupation,” Özel said, calling on Erdoğan to quit the body.
“Do not hurt the Turkish nation and Palestinians any more, leave that table,” he said.
“Do not fear Trump. Fear God.”
Özel’s remarks followed a statement by the Board of Peace that dismissed the Gaza-bound flotilla as “performative love-boat activism” and accused participants of using Palestinians’ suffering to build their social media profiles.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry also cited the Board of Peace framework in its criticism of the flotilla, calling it a “Hamas” flotilla and saying humanitarian activities in Gaza should go through the Board of Peace and the Civil-Military Coordination Center, according to a statement published by Israel’s embassy in Washington.
The Board of Peace was created as part of Trump’s Gaza plan and is chaired by Trump, according to a January White House statement that said the body would provide “strategic oversight” for Gaza’s transition and reconstruction.
Trump invited Erdoğan, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II to join the board in January, while a later joint statement by foreign ministers from several countries, including Turkey, said they would take part in the initiative.
Palestinian advocates and rights experts have criticized the board as a framework imposed on Gaza from outside rather than one based on Palestinian self-determination, while Al Jazeera reported that many Palestinians in Gaza feared it would prioritize “dominance” and control over justice and reconstruction.
Özel said the Israeli government had carried out a “vile attack” on the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was carrying aid to Gaza, and said the Board of Peace had defended the attack by insulting the activists.
He accused Erdoğan of sitting at the same table with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while claiming to defend Palestinians.
Israeli naval forces intercepted 22 vessels from the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters near Crete, detaining about 175 activists, including 20 Turkish nationals.
More than 100 activists were later transported to the Greek island of Crete, while Israel said two activists, Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Ávila, were being taken to Israel for questioning.
The flotilla, which left Barcelona on April 12, sought to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
Flotilla organizers said Israeli forces used drones, communications jamming technology and armed boarding teams during the operation.
Turkey has condemned Israel’s interception of the flotilla as a violation of international law and an act of piracy.