Erdogan: Israel is a terrorist state that commits war crimes and Hamas is an elected Palestinian party

ANKARA : Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Israel is a “terrorist state” committing war crimes and violating international law in Gaza, while reiterating his view that the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is not a terrorist organization.

Speaking to lawmakers in Parliament, Erdogan also called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce whether or not Israel possesses nuclear bombs, and said that the Israeli prime minister is “leaving” from his position.

He described Hamas as a political party elected by the Palestinians.

An international arrest warrant in France against Bashar al-Assad and his brother in connection with the “chemical massacre” in Eastern Ghouta

A picture of the head of the Syrian regime during an emergency meeting of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Riyadh on November 11

London : An international arrest warrant was issued in France against the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, and his brother Maher al-Assad, “against the background of the involvement of al-Assad and his regime in the chemical massacre in the Eastern Ghouta in Damascus, in August 2013, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,450 people . ” civilians, including more than 200 children and women.”

According to Syrian human rights websites and organizations, the Paris Judicial Court had opened an investigation, in 2021, into the Assad regime’s use of internationally banned weapons during its attack on the city of Douma in Eastern Ghouta, in the vicinity of the Syrian capital. This is “based on a criminal complaint filed by the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) and Syrian victims, and based on the testimonies of survivors of the chemical attack .”

Lawyer Mazen Darwish, founder and director of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), commented: “The French judiciary’s issuance of arrest warrants against the head of the pyramid, Bashar al-Assad, and his aide constitutes a historic judicial precedent, a new victory for the victims, their families and survivors, and a new step on the path to justice and sustainable peace in Syria.” “.

He added: “The investigating judges in France had their say regarding this type of crime. No one has immunity. We expect the French authorities to respect the suffering and rights of the victims and the decisions of the French judiciary.”

In addition to Bashar al-Assad and Maher al-Assad, the de facto commander of the Fourth Division in the Syrian regime’s army, arrest warrants were issued against Brigadier General Ghassan Abbas, director of Branch 450 of the Center for Syrian Scientific Studies and Research, and Brigadier Bassam al-Hassan, advisor to the President of the Republic for strategic affairs, and the liaison officer between The Presidential Palace and the Syrian Scientific Research Center. These arrest warrants indicate the legal qualifications for complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes.