Ankara —President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan denounced the United States on Tuesday for revoking visas for senior Palestinian officials ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, saying the decision undercut the credibility of the gathering and handed Israel an advantage as pressure mounts over the war in Gaza.
The US move prevents Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and members of his delegation from traveling to New York for the high-level meetings scheduled to begin next week. American officials defended the restrictions as consistent with security concerns and what they described as Palestinian “unilateral” efforts to secure statehood recognition.
President Erdoğan rejected those explanations outright, arguing that the General Assembly exists precisely to debate issues of sovereignty, war, and peace. “The United Nations General Assembly exists for the issues of the world to be discussed and for solutions to be found,” he told reporters after returning from a visit to China. “Excluding the Palestinians only pleases Israel.”
Türkiye has escalated its criticism of Israel since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, cutting trade ties and pressing for the suspension of Israel’s membership in international organizations. Senior Turkish officials, including Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, have urged world powers to take concrete action rather than offering rhetorical condemnation.
The timing of the visa revocations has heightened tensions as a bloc of countries prepares to recognize Palestine at the General Assembly. For Ankara, the US decision represents not a procedural safeguard but an effort to narrow the space for Palestinian diplomacy at a moment of international reckoning.
Rights groups and genocide scholars have accused Israel of committing systematic Genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, including mass civilian killings, destruction of hospitals and homes, and forced displacement. Türkiye has aligned itself with those findings, contending that Washington and its allies cannot uphold international law while shielding Israel from accountability.
By barring Palestinian leaders from participating, Ankara argues, Washington has turned a forum for negotiation into a stage-managed spectacle. The absence of Abbas and other senior figures, Turkish officials say, will make it harder for Palestinians to influence the informal talks and bilateral meetings that often shape outcomes during the two-week gathering.
According to Reuters, Türkiye President Mr. Erdoğan insisted that what the world expects from Washington is not more procedural blocks but a demand to stop the “massacres” and “cruelty” in Gaza.
