Organisation of Islamic Cooperation holds an emergency summit over Gaza killings (AFP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called on the Muslim world to back Palestinians against what he said was Israel's cruelty in Gaza, and castigated both the United States and the United Nations over the deaths of dozens of protesters.
The Turkish president has been a vocal critic of Washington's decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem – and of the violence that followed the embassy's opening. Turkey declared three days of mourning after Israeli security forces killed dozens of Palestinian protesters on Monday.
Erdogan's call came as the UN human rights council voted to send war crimes investigators to look into Israel's response to the protests.
Addressing thousands of supporters waving Turkish and Palestinian flags in Istanbul's Yenikapi neighbourhood, the Turkish president called for Muslim solidarity and said the UN had lost legitimacy for failing to stand up against Washington.
"If the Muslim world stands against cruelty in Gaza together, Israel's recklessness will not last," he said.
"The United Nations, which has failed to take effective steps against the United States, has taken another blow to its already worn-out legitimacy."
ANALYSIS►
Erdogan called an emergency summit of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which took place on Friday in Istanbul.
At the meeting, Erdogan told the leaders of Muslim nations at the extraordinary summit that he plans to take the events in Gaza to the UN General Assembly.
He also compared Israel's actions against the Palestinians in Gaza to the Nazi persecution of the Jews in World War II.
"There is no difference between the atrocity faced by the Jewish people in Europe 75 years ago and the brutality that our Gaza brothers are subjected to," he said.
"I will say openly and clearly that what Israel is doing is banditry, brutality and state terror," Erdogan told the summit.
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah told the rally held ahead of the summit that the world must act. "We call on the international community to intervene immediately to protect our people and to make Israel accountable for its action," he said.
The violence in Gaza has sparked a diplomatic row between Turkey and Israel, with both countries expelling each other's senior diplomats this week.
The plight of Palestinians resonates with many Turks, particularly the nationalist and religious voters who form the base of support for Erdogan, running for re-election next month.
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