Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas opened his address to the Turkish parliament on Thursday by offering a prayer for slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an assassination last month that has been attributed to Israel.
“Please allow me, brothers and sisters, to start speaking to you to ask Allah to have mercy on those tens and thousands of martyrs who were killed by the Israeli oppression and genocide against them,” said Abbas, according to a translation by Ankara’s state broadcaster, TRT World.
“The latest massacre, the latest oppression, was the crime against the leader martyr Ismail Haniyeh. I call upon you, my brothers and sisters, to say Al-Fatiha on his soul,” Abbas continued, using the term for a Koran chapter often recited to ask for mercy on behalf of the deceased.
As Abbas mentioned the name of Haniyeh, Turkish lawmakers held up pictures of the Hamas terror leader and his successor, Yahya Sinwar. In addition, an empty seat was reserved in honor of Haniyeh, responsible for the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust on Oct. 7.
In his remarks, which lasted approximately 40 minutes, Abbas called on all to help “liberate the more than 10,000 Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails,” including Hamas terrorists captured during the Oct. 7 massacre.
Abbas also told lawmakers he intends to travel to Gaza alongside “other brothers from the Palestinian leadership.” The P.A. leader has not visited the Strip since Hamas violently seized control of the enclave in 2007.
“Even if my life was at risk, our lives, they are not dearer than the lives of children or anyone in Gaza. We are implementing Sharia [law]; we seek victory or martyrdom. This is according to Islamic Sharia,” he stated.
Abbas’s address at times echoed antisemitic tropes, with the P.A. leader asserting that “the Palestinian people are not just defending Palestine … we are at the forefront of defending the Arab and Islamic nations against this imperialist, expansionist project; against the aspirations of the Zionist movement seeking to control the entire region.”
“The Jews in America—I’m not talking about Europe—40% of the Jews in America consider Israel a criminal state. I’m talking about the Jews. So the status quo is changing,” he claimed.
Abbas met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at Ankara’s Presidential Complex on Wednesday ahead of his speech in parliament.
The two discussed “the massacres committed by Israel in Palestinian territories” and “the steps that need to be taken for a permanent ceasefire,” according to a readout published by Erdoğan’s office.
The Turkish leader underscored “the need for all countries, especially those in the Islamic world, to intensify their efforts to secure an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and ensure the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians,” according to the readout of the talks.
“The silence of some Western countries and their continued support for Israel is unacceptable,” Erdoğan said.
‘The world is watching … ’
Abbas agreed to address the Grand National Assembly of Turkey after Erdoğan launched a scathing attack on him last month, accusing the P.A. leader of refusing to speak before the parliament in Ankara.
“Mahmoud Abbas, who didn’t show up despite our invitation to address the parliament, owes us an apology. Let’s see if he’ll agree to come now,” Erdoğan told attendees at a charitable event in July.
Erdoğan’s remarks expose the growing rift between Ramallah and Ankara in the wake of Turkey’s unified stance with Gaza’s Hamas.
The Turkish president has become ever more hostile towards Israel and closer to Hamas since the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 cross-border massacre.
In May, Erdoğan called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “vampire who feeds on blood,” urging Muslims to fight the Jewish state.
“The world is watching the barbarity of … a vampire who feeds on blood called Netanyahu, and they are watching it on live broadcast,” he said.
Last month, Erdoğan told Newsweek that Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip are “simply defending their homes, streets and homeland.
“What is between Israel and Gaza is not war,” he continued. “Israel has been treating Gaza as an open-air prison for years. They are usurping Palestinians of their homes, businesses and farmlands throughout Palestinian territory using thieving terrorists they call settlers.”