Comments on Gaza made by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in an interview with Fox News have resurfaced.
Erdoğan answered questions from Fox News anchor Bret Baier on September 23, 2025, during his meetings at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In response to the question, “Do you consider what is happening in Gaza genocide?” Erdoğan said, “There is no other way to explain it. This is a full-fledged genocide. Netanyahu is the perpetrator of this genocide.”
Holding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people in Gaza, Erdoğan stressed that Türkiye opposed Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
The issue of hostages held by Hamas also came up in the interview. Erdoğan rejected placing sole responsibility for the events on Hamas and said the actions of the Israeli government also had to be assessed.
Erdoğan also argued that Hamas’s military capabilities could not be compared with those of Israel, saying that Israel was using its military power against civilians in Gaza.
Erdoğan: I do not consider Hamas a terrorist organization
Erdoğan also explained his position on Hamas in the Fox News interview, saying that he did not consider the group a terrorist organization but viewed it as a “resistance organization.”
Erdoğan also referred to U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments about ending the war in Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine war, noting that both conflicts were still ongoing at that time.
Türkiye has long described Israel’s operations in Gaza as “genocide,” while Israel rejects the accusation.
