Turkish parliament condemns 'war criminal' Netanyahu, US Congress

Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the United States Congress, following which he received a standing ovation, the Turkish parliament has adopted a resolution declaring regret over the "democratic disgrace".

The address by Netanyahu, "who took decades of unjust occupation and gross violations of law in Palestine to an unprecedented level with a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza, went down in history as a disgrace," read the resolution passed on Saturday.

"War criminals should speak from the dock in international courts, not from parliamentary rostrums," the parliament asserted.

It further expressed that the applause and cheers for "bloody war criminal" Netanyahu, which came from the parliament of a country that "claims to be a champion of democracy and human rights," constitute a violation of law and all kinds of humanitarian and moral values.

"It is regrettable that a democratic institution, instead of restraining Israel's borderless aggression, has become a tool for a stage show full of lies that gives power and courage to the perpetrators of great crimes against humanity," the resolution stressed.

'Genocidal massacre'

Signed by the Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus, the resolution also praised those who represented social conscience by protesting both inside and outside the Congress building, as well as the sensible Congress members who bravely boycotted the session.

"Netanyahu's spectacle based on lies will not be enough to cover up the genocidal massacre and blatant war crimes that all of humanity has witnessed from the very beginning," the resolution asserted.

Israel's war on Gaza, now in its 295th day, has killed at least 39,258 Palestinians — the majority of them women and children –– and wounded 90,589 others. More than 10,000 are estimated to be buried under the debris, and two million people have been displaced.

"Those who survive struggle to survive against hunger and disease in a narrow region where all kinds of humanitarian aid are blocked," the Turkish parliament stressed.

It called for all decision-makers with political influence on Israel, especially the US Congress, to take effective measures to stop the bloodshed in Gaza and increase political pressure on Israel for an immediate ceasefire.