As peace talks between Israel and Hamas begin in Egypt, protestors on Sunday decried two years of genocidal warfare in Gaza from Amsterdam to İstanbul. In Turkey, Palestinian voices led the march to criticize Israel, accusing Ankara of complicity in the ongoing war.
“As Palestinians, we call on human rights organizations, political parties, trade unions, and the House of Representatives to exert the necessary pressure on their governments to cut all commercial, diplomatic, academic, cultural, and sporting ties with the Zionist entity.
They must also take responsibility for isolating and punishing this criminal occupation, and ensure that its terrorist leaders are held accountable before the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court,” said a Palestinian woman, quoted on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. She made this statement in Dolmabahçe to mark the second anniversary of the Nakba.
Also marking the second year of Israel’s assault and genocide against Palestine, the Palestine Action Committee protested Israel with a march from Taksim’s Atatürk Cultural Center to Dolmabahçe.
#İstanbul | Filistin Eylem Komitesi’nin çağrısıyla yapılan yürüyüş, BJK İnönü Stadyumu’na ulaştı; "İşgale direnen Filistin'e bin selam" ve "Özgür Filistin" sloganları atılıyor.
— bianet (@bianet_org) October 5, 2025
📹 Video: @kepenekevrimm pic.twitter.com/ncq9CW5wDQ
“A thousand greetings to the women resisting in Palestine”
At the demonstration organized by the Palestine Action Committee, participants included the December Feminist Collective, university students, DEM Party İstanbul co-chairs Arife Çınar and Vedat Çınar Altan, DEM Party MP Özgül Saki, TİP Chair Erkan Baş, International Solidarity, People’s Houses (Halkevleri), FÖP, DSİP, FEK, EMEP, Kaldıraç, BDS, EMEP MP İskender Bayhan, trade union representatives, and many others.
Throughout the march, participants chanted slogans such as “Boycott Israel, Freedom for Palestine,” “Murderer U.S., Get Out of the Middle East,” “From the River to the Sea, Free Palestine,” “Shut Down the Ports, Cut the Trade,” and “A Thousand Greetings to the Women Resisting in Palestine.”
The demonstration also called on Turkey to sever all relations with Israel.
"We will continue the struggle until a full embargo is declared on Israel”
On behalf of the thousands who reached Dolmabahçe, the following statement was read to the press, criticizing Israel:
"Today, as friends of Palestine in Turkey, we are gathered to demand the immediate cessation of support for genocide from these lands. While the political powers in this country engage in daily gestures of solidarity with Palestine, at the same time they continue transporting fuel from their own territory to the planes and tanks of the Zionist army. Military bases in Turkey continue to provide real-time intelligence to the genocidal army. Ships traveling to and from Israel freely use Turkish ports, while those exposing this complicity are subjected to state pressure, detained, arrested, and prosecuted.
"We do not fall for the crocodile tears shed by the state that did not open its ports to the Sumud Fleet, which set out to break the Gaza blockade, and that did not stand by them while they faced attacks and threats, yet sheds tears when volunteers are welcomed. We want to see real sanctions.
"What the Palestinian struggle needs is not tears, but the cutting off of the resources that sustain the Zionist regime. We call on the Turkish government to take these decisions itself and implement them immediately, before calling for sanctions and embargoes against Israel in international meetings.
"We will not accept support for genocide while the Palestinian people fight for their existence. Wherever Zionism and its supporters exist, the movement for solidarity with Palestine targets them. We will continue to raise the struggle with the spirit of intifada wherever we are, until a full embargo is declared on Israel and this illegitimate regime is isolated and eliminated."
"Imposing an embargo is the only way to prevent crimes”
Afterwards, a woman from Palestine spoke, summarizing as follows:
"This genocide has claimed 66,005 martyrs so far, including 18,600 children and 12,400 women. In addition, 168,000 people have been injured, and two million people have been displaced from their homes and lands. The suffocating blockade continues, and the occupying regime implements policies of starvation, blocks the passage of medicine, bombs hospitals, obstructs the activities of international organizations, and commits all kinds of crimes against humanity.
"These crimes and this ruthless, continuously expanding occupation would not have been possible without the endless support of U.S.-led imperialism and the obedience and silence of regional regimes in their relations with this entity. For this very reason, isolating this entity and imposing a full embargo is the only thing that can prevent it from continuing its borderless crimes.
"Therefore, as Palestinians, we call on human rights organizations, political parties, trade unions, and the House of Representatives to apply the necessary pressure on their governments to cut all commercial, diplomatic, academic, cultural, and sporting ties with the Zionist entity.
"They should also take responsibility for ensuring that this criminal occupation is isolated and punished, and that its terrorist leaders are held accountable in the halls of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court."
Since the war began in Gaza in Oct 2023, Turkey has announced several rounds of trade sanctions against Israel. In Apr 2024, Ankara imposed restrictions on certain product categories, and in May, it declared a complete halt to trade with Israel.
However, numerous reports suggest that these bans are being bypassed. For example, data from the Turkish Exporters' Assembly shows that Turkey’s exports to Palestine in July rose by roughly 1,200% compared to the same month in 2023. Steel exports to Palestine surged by 51,000%, and cement exports by 453,000%.
These figures have raised questions, given the limited infrastructure in Palestine to handle such large volumes. (EMK/MH/VK)
