ISTANBUL, April 18. /TASS/. Turkey will continue to support Palestine, even if it has to do so alone, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, adding that the Palestinian issue can only be settled via a two-state solution.
"There is no alternative to a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem. Palestine belongs to the Palestinian people. We will continue our relentless struggle until the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital within the 1967 borders, even if we’re the only ones," Erdogan said at the first meeting of the Parliamentary Group in Support of Palestine.
According to him, "the international system has failed in Gaza."
"International law has become a tool for concentrating power in the hands of a select few, not for establishing justice. It is with deep sorrow and tears in my eyes that I declare that, unfortunately, the Islamic world has not been able to fulfill what was expected of it," the Turkish president said.
Erdogan also accused Israel of hindering the stabilization of the situation in Syria and Lebanon. "The strikes on Syria and Lebanon demonstrate that the administration of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu does not want peace and tranquility in the Middle East. This madness, which threatens the countries of the region, must be put to an end as soon as possible, otherwise the fire will soon burn those who ignite it," he said.
He added that he hoped that sooner or later Netanyahu "would stand trial before international courts for genocide" in the Gaza Strip.
Turkey halted trade with Israel last year and increased humanitarian assistance to Palestine.
"We continued to provide humanitarian assistance to our Palestinian brothers and sisters. With the support of the fraternal countries of the region, we have delivered over 101,000 tons of humanitarian supplies to Gaza," Erdogan said.
The meeting, organized at the initiative of Turkey, was attended by speakers of parliaments of 13 countries, including Palestine, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Senegal, Jordan, Bahrain.