Erdogan calls Gaza war an ‘ecocide’ at UN climate summit; Israel: ‘Campaign of lies’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday used an environmental gathering to again lambaste Israel over its war against Hamas in Gaza, saying the world should recognize the environmental impact of the war.

Erdogan made the remarks at the UN climate summit, known as COP31, in Antalya, Turkey.

“What has taken place in Gaza is not only a genocide, but it is also an ecocide,” Erdogan said to world leaders and other climate envoys.

Israel vehemently denies the allegation of genocide.

“Centuries-old olive trees have been cut down. The soil and water have been polluted in Gaza, and cities in Gaza have been turned into enormous piles of rubble,” Erdogan said. “With Gaza’s destroyed infrastructure, compounded by torrential rain and by flooding, tens of thousands of tents and shelters have been inundated.”

Israel, which was not invited to COP31, reacted furiously.

“Once again, Dictator Erdogan is using an international forum to push his anti-Israel campaign of lies,” the Foreign Ministry tweeted.

“Hamas, whose leaders are hosted in Erdogan’s Türkiye, is responsible for the devastation in Gaza. Hamas started this war with the October 7th massacre and embedded its military infrastructure in civilian areas. Those who truly care about Gaza should demand that Hamas disarm so reconstruction can begin.”

Erdogan has been a supporter of Hamas and an outspoken critic of Israel, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the Turkish leader an antisemitic “tyrant.”

“The latest country to become a superspreader of antisemitic lies is Turkey,” Netanyahu said in September while speaking at the UN General Assembly.

‘Severe damage on the environment’

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also lashed out at Israel in speech at the UN climate conference, accusing it and the United States of inflicting severe environmental damage during attacks on the Islamic Republic.

“The recent criminal and illegal aggression against Iran by America and the Zionist regime… has inflicted severe damage on the environment, releasing massive quantities of pollutants and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere,” Pezeshkian said.

He said that attacks on fuel facilities on a major gas field in Iran’s south “resulted in the emission of approximately 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.”

“The deliberate strike on fuel depots near Tehran led to the release of another one million tons,” he added, calling for mechanisms to hold the US and Israel accountable.

While the specifics of the accusations could not be independently verified, several oil spills have been detected off the coasts of Gulf countries.

Iran’s foreign ministry has previously blamed the pollution on US military operations in the region, though both countries have targeted tankers in the Strait of Hormuz as they seek to enforce parallel blockades.

Pezeshkian arrived in Antalya, Turkey on Wednesday.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA said he had already held discussions with several leaders from participating countries during the visit.

The Middle East war broke out on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran responded by launching missiles and drones at countries across the region, while the militant groups it backs in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq also entered the fray.