REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

MINISTER TUNÇ: ISRAEL IS ACTING LIKE A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION, BUT NOT LIKE A STATE  

Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç drew attention to Israel's failure to implement the preliminary injunction of the International Court of Justice regarding the genocide in Palestine and said, “Israel acts like a terrorist organization, but not like a state.”

Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç received Palestinian Bar Association President Fadi Hatem Abbas Salahaldeen and the accompanying delegation. The Palestinian delegation was accompanied by Erinç Sağkan, President of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, and his delegation.

Minister Tunç stated that there have been more than 40 thousand martyrs, 16 thousand of whom are children, in the genocide in Palestine since October 7 and wished mercy upon the martyrs and a speedy recovery to the wounded.

AS TÜRKİYE, WE WILL CONTINUE TO STAND BY PALESTINE

Emphasizing that Türkiye has always stood by Palestine, Minister Tunç said: “As Türkiye, we will continue to support our Palestinian brothers and sisters as always. Our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been a leader who has always supported the Palestinian cause from the very beginning. He has always included Palestine in all his speeches on all international platforms, especially on the rostrum of the United Nations. As a country, we will continue to be the champions of Palestine.”

ISRAEL IS ACTING LIKE A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION, BUT NOT LIKE A STATE

Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç drew attention to Israel's failure to implement the preliminary injunction of the International Court of Justice and continued as follows:

“There have been many decisions on Palestine delivered by the United Nations and Security Council for a century, however unfortunately there is an Israel that does not abide by the rules of international law. It is acting like a terrorist organization, but not like a state. Unfortunately, the investigations launched by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor has not yielded any results. A case could not be filed before the International Criminal Court.  In the case filed by South Africa for violation of genocide convention, a preliminary injunction was issued by the International Court of Justice, but it was not implemented. One day, all those committed these crimes against humanity, in particular Netanyahu, who committed this genocide, will stand for trial and will be held accountable for their acts. Those who gave these orders are already condemned in the conscience of humanity.”

Talking about judicial cooperation between the two countries, Minister Tunç said, “We should try to further improve the judicial cooperation between Palestine and Türkiye. 2022, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Justice on 24 May 2022. I firmly believe that the existing friendship and cooperation between our countries will always continue to strengthen in the judicial field.”

SALAHALDEEN: THERE ARE 9 THOUSAND HOSTAGES, INCLUDING 30 LAWYERS

President of Palestinian Bar Association Fadi Hatem Abbas Salahaldeen stated that Palestinians are forced to migrate from their homeland in the genocide in Palestine, and many Palestinians are kept as prisoners in Israel jails for no reason. President Salahaldeen added that “There are 9 thousand hostages in Israel prisons, who are deprived of many rights. Right now, 30 of our lawyers, including 2 women are detained. Many of our colleagues are missing. Justice services in Gaza and the West Bank have been destroyed completely. Citizens are deprived of many rights.”

SAĞKAN: WE MOBILIZED INTERNATIONAL ACTORS

Emphasizing that they sent documents to many international platforms due to the genocide in Palestine, President of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations Erinç Sağkan said:

“We have made great efforts to mobilize international actors, including the International Criminal Court. In particular, we tried to demonstrate that the process before the International Criminal Court is a crime against humanity as well as it has the elements of the offence of genocide.”