“Israel’s war-addicted current government is trying every kind of provocation to drag our entire region into instability,” Erdogan said.
By United with Israel Staff
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a blistering attack on Israel on Friday, accusing the Jewish state of seeking to destabilize the Middle East and denouncing Zionism as a “radical, occupying, genocidal ideology.”
Speaking at a Muslim religious event in Istanbul, Erdogan accused Israel’s government of deliberately provoking conflict throughout the region.
“Israel’s war-addicted current government is trying every kind of provocation to drag our entire region into instability, starting with its neighbors,” Erdogan said.
The Turkish leader claimed that Israel’s actions threatened not only neighboring countries but anyone who supports regional peace and humanitarian values.
Erdogan also accused Israel of turning Gaza into “the world’s largest children’s cemetery” and invoked some of history’s worst atrocities while condemning the international community’s response to the war.
Drawing comparisons to the failure to confront Adolf Hitler and Khmer Rouge dictator Pol Pot, Erdogan claimed the world was repeating the same mistake in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, and Lebanon.
He called on Muslim-majority countries to strengthen their alliances and become increasingly self-reliant, saying the Islamic world should stand together like “bricks in a wall.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded sharply to Erdogan’s remarks, accusing the Turkish president of antisemitic incitement and attempting to distract from his own record.
“The antisemitic Erdogan seeks, every few days, to reach new heights of wild incitement against the Jewish state in an attempt to divert attention from his actions against his own people and across the region,” the ministry said.
“Erdogan has destroyed Turkish democracy, imprisoned his political opponents, hosted and supported the Hamas terrorist organization, and invaded neighboring countries,” it continued.
The Foreign Ministry compared Erdogan’s rhetoric to historical antisemitic propaganda, accusing him of spreading “false blood libels” against Israel.
“Like the worst antisemites in history, Erdogan seeks to deflect attention from his own disgraceful actions by spreading false blood libels,” the ministry said.
Relations between Israel and Turkey have deteriorated sharply in recent years, with Erdogan repeatedly directing fierce rhetoric at Israel while maintaining close ties with Hamas.
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