Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged the Islamic world to unite in supporting the Palestinians and combating what he called Israel's "tyranny."
Erdogan first addressed thousands at a rally in Istanbul on May 18 and later hosted an extraordinary summit of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
The Turkish president has denounced the killing of 60 Palestinian protesters by Israeli forces on May 14 on the border with the Gaza Strip as well as the U.S. Embassy’s move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
"The time has come to stand against Israel's tyranny," Erdogan said during the rally.
Speaking at the opening of the summit, Erdogan compared Israel's actions against the Palestinians in Gaza to the Nazi persecution of the Jews in the Holocaust during World War II.
"There is no difference between the atrocity faced by the Jewish people in Europe 75 years ago and the brutality that our Gaza brothers are subjected to," he said, accusing Israel of using methods "similar to the Nazis."
Opposition politicians claimed the Turkish president was capitalizing on events in Gaza ahead of snap elections in Turkey next month.