Turkish academics condemn Israel, call on global community to act for Palestine

More than 900 academics at various universities in Türkiye condemned Israel's actions in Gaza in a declaration titled "Call of conscience and responsibility from the Turkish academia for Gaza" published on Tuesday.

The academics said the UN, which was founded to protect international peace and security, has failed to stop actions against humanity.

It was emphasized that Israel continues to violate the basic rules and principles of law and its inhumane actions in Gaza and other occupied territories.

The document also underlined sections regarding genocide and war crimes in international conventions.

"We, as the Turkish academia, first of all condemn Israel, which lives up to the 'terrorist state' epithet," the declaration said. "We call on them to immediately stop the actions they are committing and withdraw from the lands they occupy."

The academics also pledged to contribute to the "permanent solution" of the problem if requested by institutions and organizations in the world, especially the Turkish government.

"On this occasion, we gratefully salute our colleagues who do not hesitate to express the truth despite the pressures they are exposed to all over the world, and declare that we are fully open to academic cooperation on relevant issues," the statement said.

Israel has killed over 11,200 Palestinians besides damaging and destroying thousands of civilian structures in its air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas.