Erdoğan Vows Turkey Will Resist Regional Instability

“We have no time for empty rhetoric and cheap polemics. Today, Turkey is a country capable of setting and implementing its own agenda both domestically and regionally,” Erdoğan said on Sept. 17.

His remarks came during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Foreign Ministry’s new headquarters in the capital Ankara.

"The language of diplomacy is courtesy, and Turkey's foreign policy is peace-oriented. But this does not mean we will remain silent or back down in the face of insolence,” he said.

"We will stand firm today and tomorrow against those who seek to turn our region into a sea of blood, those who fuel instability in our geography."

Erdoğan described the current era as one of increasing uncertainty in international politics, pledging to manage crises without compromising Turkey's interests. His remarks included pointed criticism of Israel’s attacks on Palestinian territories and neighboring countries.

“We will not bow to oppression and oppressors. No one can prevent us from standing with the oppressed people of Gaza,” he said. “Whether the perpetrator is an organization or a state, massacre is a lock on the mind. This bloody lock will be broken eventually.”

He denounced the killing of civilians, saying it was futile to believe that “a secure future can be built at the cost of innocent children's lives through genocide.”

“They will drown in the blood they have shed. There is no escape from this. [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu does not know this. I am shouting it from here today, perhaps he will learn,” Erdoğan said.

The president also vowed to protect Jerusalem’s status, warning against attempts to undermine Muslim claims to the city.

“We will not allow the holy city of Jerusalem to be defiled by unholy hands,” he said. “I know that the resentment of those who aspire to be like Hitler may never fade. Let them continue to have their fits of rage. We Muslims will not take a single step back from our rights over East Jerusalem.”