Erdogan Vows Victory over ‘Imperialists’ on Türkiye's Centenary

President Recep Tayyip vowed on Sunday to stand up to "imperialist" forces as he led Turkish centenary celebrations in the shadow of Israel's escalating war with Hamas militants in Gaza.

Erdogan took center stage during day-long events that both honored the republic's secular founder and played up the achievement of his Islamic-rooted party that has run Türkiye since 2002.

"Our country is in safe hands, you may rest in peace," Erdogan said after laying a wreath at the mausoleum of military commander and statesman Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

"We will be successful and victorious. No imperialist power can prevent this," Erdogan added in an evening address in Istanbul.

Ataturk is lionized across Turkish society for driving out invading forces and building a brand new nation out of the fallen Ottoman Empire's ruins in the wake of World War I.

He formed as a Westward-facing nation that stripped religion from its state institutions and tried to forge a modern new identity out of its myriad ethnic groups.

It eventually became a proud member of the US-led NATO defense alliance.

"We are Ataturk's daughters, we are the children of the republic," pensioner Nerguzel Asik said after watching a military parade in Istanbul.

"We feel 'Turkishness' in every way," student Selin Gunes agreed.

Social transformation

But Ataturk's social and geopolitical transformation of the overwhelmingly Muslim nation created divisions that weigh on Turkish politics to this day.

Erdogan tapped into these as he led his conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) to power over the leftist Republican People's Party (CHP) formed by Ataturk.

He has spent much of the past decade testing the limits of Türkiye's secular traditions, as well as its ties with the West.

These competing forces were on full display as Erdogan moved from honoring Türkiye's past to celebrating his own government's achievements while he was prime minister and president.

Erdogan ended the day by overseeing 100 navy ships pass through the Bosphorus while screaming fighter jets performed aerobatics overhead.

" Türkiye is a country that helps those who have no one, from the Balkans to the Caucasus, from Palestine to wherever there is a need," Erdogan told the nation.

"The Palestinian rally (in Istanbul) was a part of this."

Palestinian cause

Sunday's celebrations have been partially eclipsed by Erdogan's increasingly fierce attacks against Israel over its response to the October 7 Hamas attacks.

The militants indiscriminately killed 1,400 people, most of them civilians in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor rave party, and took 220 hostages in a surprise raid that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the worst "since the Holocaust".

Israel has retaliated with relentless air strikes and an unfolding ground offensive that the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says has claimed more than 8,000 lives, most of them civilians.

Turkish state television has also scrapped the broadcast of concerts and other festivities because of the "alarming human tragedy in Gaza".

Erdogan announced that 1.5 million people had come out for a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul on Saturday that ended up drowning out national television coverage of the centenary.

Erdogan accused the Israeli government of behaving like a "war criminal" and trying to "eradicate" Palestinians.

His remarks prompted Israel to announce the withdrawal of all diplomatic staff for a "re-evaluation" of relations.

Turbulent spell

The emerging diplomatic crisis further pulled attention away from Türkiye's birthday party and onto Erdogan's handling of global affairs.

Türkiye has suffered a turbulent spell of relations with Western allies since Erdogan survived a failed coup attempt in 2016 that he blamed on a US-based Muslim preacher.

Some analysts saw Saturday's pro-Palestinian rally as part of Erdogan's tacit effort to undermine Ataturk's secular vision.

But one survey suggested that Erdogan's comments play to his conservative core of supporters and not the public at large.

The Metropoll survey showed just 11.3 percent of the respondents saying they "back Hamas" while more than half preferring to see Türkiye either stay "neutral" or mediate.

Moein Abu Odeh clambered up a pile of rubble in southern Gaza, searching for clothes, shoes, anything he could sell to raise cash more than a year since Israel started its relentless bombardments.

The father-of-four delved under blocks and brushed away piles of concrete dust at the site of one airstrike in the wrecked city of Khan Younis. His plan was to sell what he found to buy flour.

"If food and drink were available, believe me, I would give (these clothes) to charity," he said. "But the struggles we are going through (mean we) have to sell our clothes to eat and drink."

Widespread shortages and months of grinding war have generated a trade in old clothing, much of it salvaged from the homes of people who have died in the conflict.

At one makeshift market, shoes, shirts, sweaters and sneakers were laid out on dusty blankets, Reuters reported.

A girl tried on a single worn-out boot, which could come in handy this winter if she can afford it in Gaza's ruined economy.

A trader got an edge on his competitors by shouting out that his wares were European.

One man laughed as he got a young boy to try on a green jacket.

"We get clothing from a man whose house was destroyed. He was digging in the concrete to get some (clothing) and we buy them like this and sell them at a good price," displaced Palestinian Louay Abdel-Rahman said.

He and his family arrived in the city from another part of Gaza with only the clothes they were wearing. So he also keeps some back for them. "The seasons have changed from summer to winter and we need clothing," he said.

In April, the UN estimated it would take 14 years to dispose of the wreckage in Gaza. The UN official overseeing the problem said the clean-up would cost at least $1.2 billion.

More than 128,000 buildings have been destroyed or severely or moderately damaged in Gaza as a result of the conflict, the UN says. Underneath all of that are seams of mangled clothes.

"All our children only have short-sleeve clothing and nobody is helping them," Saeed Doula, a father-of-seven, said. "The war is all-encompassing."

Erdogan Vows Victory over ‘Imperialists’ on Türkiye's Centenary