Jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu accused Turkey’s government of being “held back by political calculations” in its response to Israel’s war in Gaza, urging a stronger, united stance after an Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis killed five journalists and 15 others on Monday.
İmamoğlu, a senior figure in the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the opposition’s presidential candidate for the next election, posted the remarks Tuesday on his international X account. “This horror unfolds as Gaza’s humanitarian crisis reaches famine levels. Over half a million people are starving. Hundreds of children have already died. No conscience can call this ‘normal,’” he wrote, calling the crisis a “man-made disaster.”
Detained on March 19 and later arrested on corruption charges criticized as politically motivated, İmamoğlu is widely seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief rival in 2028. His arrest triggered Turkey’s worst protests in decades.
Ankara has condemned Israel’s campaign, announced a trade embargo, and said it is sending humanitarian aid while pursuing diplomacy. At home, however, the government has faced protests and accusations that trade links with Israel continued despite harsh rhetoric. Authorities have detained pro-Palestinian activists who rallied against what they describe as a gap between words and policy.
Turkey’s stance also drew scrutiny abroad. At the July 15–16 Emergency Conference on Palestine in Bogotá, Turkey backed the political declaration but initially withheld support for a six-point action plan. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan cited legal concerns tied to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which Turkey has not ratified due to disputes with Greece in the Aegean, warning that restrictions on port access and maritime transit could undermine Ankara’s legal position. After domestic backlash, Turkey reversed course and on July 29 endorsed the measures.
İmamoğlu appealed for a coordinated national response: “For the people condemned to hunger in Gaza, we must together, government and opposition alike, raise a stronger, united voice. For humanity, for conscience, for the right of children to live, this call must be heard.”
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) on Aug. 22 declared famine in parts of the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City, defining the threshold as extreme food shortages with critical levels of malnutrition and death. Two weeks before Monday’s hospital strike, six journalists were killed in another Israeli attack near al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. International news organizations are not freely permitted to enter Gaza.
Since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023—after a Hamas attack that killed 1,206 people in Israel and led to about 250 hostages—the Gaza health ministry says more than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces. The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate reports that more than 240 Palestinian journalists have been killed during the conflict.
