Haiat went on to describe Hamas as a "despicable terrorist organization worse than ISIS," pointing out that, "even the Turkish president's attempt to defend the terrorist organization and his inciting words will not change the horrors that the whole world has seen and the unequivocal fact: Hamas = ISIS."

Hamas has been officially designated a terrorist organization in dozens of countries, including the United States and Canada, however a shocking number of people have come out in support of their actions, speaking of the group in terms not dissimilar to those used by Erdoğan.

In protests following Hamas' October 7 surprise attack on civilians in Israel, protests sprung up across the world. Even in the West, some suggested the group was simply performing "decolonization" by massacring Jews.

In the weeks since, the death toll in Israel has risen to well over 1,000, with hundreds more killed in Gaza.