On Wednesday, July 16, representatives from 30 countries of the Hague Group gathered in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. At the meeting jointly organized by the governments of Colombia and South Africa to condemn Israel’s genocidal attacks in Gaza, a six-point declaration denouncing Israel was adopted.
Twelve countries committed to immediately implementing the six measures through their domestic legal and administrative systems. A deadline of September 20 was set for other countries to join.
The measures listed in the joint declaration adopted in Bogotá are as follows:
1. Preventing the supply of weapons, ammunition, and military fuel to Israel.
2. Preventing ships suspected of carrying arms to Israel from transiting, docking, or undergoing maintenance in any port.
3. Preventing the use of a country’s flag on ships transporting military supplies to Israel.
4. Ensuring all public contracts are reviewed to avoid supporting Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
5. Fulfilling obligations through investigations and prosecutions to ensure justice for all victims, prevent future crimes, and uphold accountability.
6. Supporting universal jurisdiction within national judicial systems, where applicable, to seek justice for victims of international crimes committed in occupied Palestine.
**Statement from the Foreign Ministry on ‘Signing’**
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement regarding Turkey’s decision not to sign the joint declaration drafted at the Hague Group meeting held in Colombia on July 15-16.
The statement described the claims as baseless and aimed at disinformation, saying: “Some of the points in the joint declaration issued at the end of the meeting require inter-institutional coordination in line with our country’s international legal obligations. In this context, all relevant institutions and organizations must complete the necessary preparations before joining the joint declaration.”
The Foreign Ministry’s statement on Saturday read:
“Claims that Turkey did not support the joint declaration drafted at the Hague Group meeting in Bogotá on July 15-16, 2025, are baseless and intended to spread disinformation.
As anyone experienced and knowledgeable in such matters would know, participation in decisions and joint declarations from international meetings often follows a specific timeline. Countries have until September 20, 2025, to join the joint declaration prepared after the Bogotá meeting. Currently, only 12 of the 30 countries present at the meeting have declared their participation.
Some points in the joint declaration require inter-institutional coordination in line with our country’s international legal obligations. Therefore, all relevant institutions must complete necessary preparations before joining.
In fact, nearly all measures mentioned in the joint declaration are already being implemented by Turkey. As before, Turkey will continue to strongly support all initiatives protecting Palestinian rights. We advise against misrepresenting Turkey’s Gaza policy with incomplete information and malicious intent.”
**Second Statement from the Ministry**
On Sunday, the Ministry issued another statement on the matter, saying: “Recent claims about Turkey’s policies on Palestine are entirely inconsistent with the facts. We reject these attempts to tarnish Turkey’s support for Palestinians with political motives and mislead public opinion.”
The statement continued:
“Turkey follows an independent policy on Palestine, standing for law and justice, and has responded most strongly to Israel’s genocidal crimes in Gaza. Israeli politicians’ frequent targeting of Turkey proves the correctness of our policy.
Contrary to disinformation claims, Turkey has taken and implemented decisions far beyond the proposals in the Bogotá declaration. Turkey completely halted trade with Israel in May 2024. Since then, no export or import transactions have been conducted with Israel. Measures were carefully taken to ensure our Palestinian brothers are not harmed by this decision.
Turkey has also taken all necessary steps to block military sales to Israel and plays a leading role on international platforms. In fact, Turkey spearheaded a UN initiative, backed by 52 countries, to halt arms transfers to Israel.
The situation of the ship *Madleen* has been closely monitored from the outset. Israel’s unlawful intervention against the ship in international waters was brought to global attention, and all efforts were made to secure the release of our citizens onboard.
Turkey has repeatedly and clearly stated its opposition to all plans displacing Palestinians from Gaza. In this context, it has expressed support for the Arab League-Organization of Islamic Cooperation reconstruction plan for Gaza and backed all efforts against plans aimed at expelling Palestinians.
Contrary to baseless claims, Turkey is one of the strongest legal advocates for the Palestinian cause. Turkey is among 13 countries intervening in the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It has also contributed to two ongoing advisory proceedings at the ICJ. Full legal, consular, and political support has been provided to Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi and Rümeysa Öztürk from the outset.
Turkey will not allow any pressure or smear campaign to undermine this struggle for justice, deeply rooted in our nation’s conscience. It will continue standing with Palestine without compromising international law and human rights principles.”
**7DENIZ**
