More than tens of thousands of people gathered today in Istanbul on the square near the Galata Bridge to condemn the terrorism of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Israel and support the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to a journalist from Agence France-Presse.
According to the official Turkish news agency Anadolu, "hundreds of thousands" of demonstrators responded on the first day of the new year to the call of a platform that gathers more than 300 organizations and associations to protest under the slogan "Mercy to our martyrs, support to Palestine, curse to Israel".
In late December, the Turkish military lost 12 soldiers in two separate attacks in northern Iraq, which were attributed to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a traditional supporter of the Palestinians, has issued multiple condemnations of Israel and also condemned US support for the Israeli government.
The gathering of demonstrators, including the president's son Bilal, who carry Turkish and Palestinian flags, began at dawn. They gathered around the Galata Bridge chanting "Death to Israel, out of Palestine" and "God is great," France Press reports.
A large banner in the colors of the Palestinian flag was hung in the middle of the bridge, and caricatures of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a Hitler mustache were also waved.
Last Sunday, Erdogan compared Netanyahu to the Nazi leader. "How are you different from Hitler?" Erdogan asked.
Bilal Erdogan, one of the sons of the Turkish president, in his speech greeted the "martyrs" of the army who died in Iraq and said that he had been to the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza and that people there put their hopes in Turkey and in Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Turkish military regularly conducts military operations in northern Iraq, targeting positions of the PKK, which Ankara and its Western allies consider a terrorist organization.
Over the past 25 years, Turkey has set up dozens of military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan.
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