{"id":484956,"date":"2026-01-01T15:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T15:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/484956\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T15:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T15:01:10","slug":"hundreds-of-thousands-march-in-istanbul-in-solidarity-with-gaza-israel-palestine-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/484956\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds of thousands march in Istanbul in solidarity with Gaza | Israel-Palestine conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Demonstrators in Turkiye demand global pressure on Israel, calling the so-called ceasefire \u2018a slow-motion genocide\u2019 against Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of thousands of people are marching through Istanbul in a sweeping show of solidarity with Palestinians, condemning Israel\u2019s genocide<\/a> in Gaza and rejecting claims that a ceasefire has brought meaningful relief.<\/p>\n

Protesters, many waving Palestinian and Turkish flags, converged on the city\u2019s historic Galata Bridge on Thursday despite freezing temperatures.<\/p>\n

The march, organised by civil society groups under the National Will Platform alongside Turkish football clubs, rallied under the slogan: \u201cWe won\u2019t remain silent, we won\u2019t forget Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 400 civil society organisations joined the mobilisation, underscoring the scale of public anger at Israel\u2019s ongoing assault on Gaza. Several major football clubs urged their supporters to attend, helping turn the rally into one of the largest pro-Palestine demonstrations Turkiye has seen since Israel\u2019s war began.<\/p>\n

Galatasaray football club chair Dursun Ozbek described Israel\u2019s actions as a moral reckoning for the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not get used to this silence,\u201d Ozbek said in a video message shared on X. \u201cStanding shoulder to shoulder against oppression, we come together on the same side for humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ISTANBUL,An aerial view of boats carrying Palestinian flags around Galata Bridge [Muhammed Enes Yildirim\/Anadolu via Getty Images]\u2018A slow-motion genocide\u2019<\/p>\n

Sinem Koseoglu, Al Jazeera\u2019s Turkiye correspondent, reported from the Galata Bridge that Palestine remains a point of national consensus. She said the issue cuts across political lines, uniting supporters of the governing AK Party with voters from major opposition parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday people are trying to show their support on the very first day of the new year,\u201d Koseoglu said, as crowds packed the bridge and surrounding streets.<\/p>\n

Police sources and the Anadolu state news agency said about 500,000 people took part in the march.<\/p>\n

The rally included speeches and a performance by Lebanese-born singer Maher Zain, who sang \u201cFree Palestine\u201d to a sea of raised flags.<\/p>\n

For many demonstrators, the protest was also a rejection of Israel\u2019s ceasefire narrative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people here do not believe in the ceasefire,\u201d Koseoglu said. \u201cThey believe the current ceasefire is not a real ceasefire<\/a>, but a slow motion of the genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ISTANBUL,Thousands of people have gathered across Istanbul to march in solidarity with Palestinians, calling for an end to the genocidal war on Gaza, on January 1, 2026 [Muhammed Ali Yigit\/Anadolu via Getty Images]<\/p>\n

Turkiye has cut trade with Israel and closed its airspace<\/a> and ports, but Koseoglu said protesters want sustained international pressure rather than symbolic measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main idea here is to show their solidarity with the Palestinian people and let the world not forget about what\u2019s going on in Gaza,\u201d she said, warning that many see the ceasefire as \u201cvery fragile\u201d.<\/p>\n

Turkiye has positioned itself as one of Israel\u2019s sharpest critics and played a role in brokering a ceasefire announced in October by United States President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Yet the pause in fighting has failed to halt bloodshed, with more than 400 Palestinians killed by Israel since the ceasefire took effect, and aid still being withheld<\/a> from entering the besieged Strip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Demonstrators in Turkiye demand global pressure on Israel, calling the so-called ceasefire \u2018a slow-motion genocide\u2019 against Palestinians. Hundreds…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":484957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[70,3497,99,13191,3097,50,4851,7237,24922,219315],"class_list":{"0":"post-484956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-gaza","9":"tag-humanitarian-crises","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-israel-palestine-conflict","12":"tag-middle-east","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-palestine","15":"tag-protests","16":"tag-turkey","17":"tag-turkey-syria-border"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115820447986640411","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}