Erdogan Criticises America’s Decision To Revoke Visas Of Palestinians, Details Here

New Delhi, September 2: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticised America’s decision to revoke the visas of Palestinian officials which would bar them from attending a gathering of world leaders at the United Nations (UN) this month in New York. “The decision needs to be urgently revised. The UN General Assembly exists for the issues of the world to be discussed and for solutions to be found. The Palestinian delegation not being at the general assembly would only please Israel,” said Erdogan.   

US State Department has backedits decision on barring Abbas and others by reiterating longstanding US and Israeli allegations that the Palestinian authority and the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) had failed to repudiate extremism while pushing for ‘unilateral recognition’ of a Palestinian state. The general assembly session begins on September 9, 2025, but leaders are set to meet in New York later in the month amid growing criticism over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Israel has repeatedly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and says they are justified as self-defence. On Monday it rejected a resolution by an association of genocide scholars which said that the legal criteria has been met to establish that Israel is committing genocide.

Since last week, Turkey has also been calling for Israel to be suspended from international organisations, including the UN General assembly.

Relations between Turkey and Israel were downgraded after the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Turkey condemned Israel and backed Hamas. On November 13, 2024, Erdoğan announced that Turkey was severing all diplomatic relations with Israel for not ending the Gaza war. 

Turkey was the first Islamic country to recognize the Jewish state.

Also read: Turkey’s First Lady Writes To Melania Trump, Urges Her To Speak Out On Gaza: ‘I Have Faith That…’