ISTANBUL: Thousands joined a New Year rally for Gaza in Istanbul on Thursday, waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and calling for an end to the bloodshed in the tiny territory.

Demonstrators gathered in freezing temperatures under cloudless blue skies to march to the city’s Galata Bridge for a rally under the slogan: “We won’t remain silent, we won’t forget Palestine”.

More than 400 civil society organisations were present at the rally, one of whose organisers was Bilal Erdogan, the youngest son of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Police sources and Anadolou state news agency said some 500,000 people had joined the march at which there were speeches and a performance by Lebanese-born singer Maher Zain of his song Free Palestine.

“We are praying that 2026 will bring goodness for our entire nation and for the oppressed Palestinians,” said Erdogan, who chairs the board of the Ilim Yayma Foundation, an educational charity that was one of the organisers of the march.

Turkiye has been one of the most vocal critics of the Israeli invasion of Gaza and helped broker a ceasefire in October.

But the fragile ceasefire has not stopped the violence as more than 400 Palestinians have been killed since it took hold on Oct 10.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2026