Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Mikhail Klimentyev / CC BY 4
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel, on Sunday, of carrying out atrocities against Palestine and Lebanon and threatened potential military action against the Jewish state, similar to its past interventions in Karabakh and Libya.
“The blood-stained genocide network continues to kill innocent children, women, and civilians without any rule or principle, ignoring all kinds of human values,” Erdogan alleged while addressing the International Asia-Political Parties Conference in Istanbul.
“Despite the ceasefire, Israel has forced 1.2 million Lebanese to leave their homes due to attacks on civilian settlements,” Erdogan said, although both Israel and the United States reject claims of Lebanon being included in the current ceasefire with Iran.
Erdogan went on to describe Israeli actions as “barbaric,” while citing a controversial law recently passed by the Knesset to approve death penalties against terrorists, which the Turkish leader said was meant “only for Palestinian prisoners.” In responding to reporters later in the day, Erdogan escalated his rhetoric even further, suggesting that Ankara could choose to engage with Israel militarily.
“We must be strong to prevent Israel from doing this to Palestine,” Erdogan said. “Just as we entered Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we will do the same to them,” he stated. “There is nothing to prevent us from doing it. We just need to be strong so that we can take these steps.”
Israel accuses Erdogan of hypocrisy
Responding to his comments, Israel’s Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit) sharply condemned Erdogan’s remarks and moral high ground and accused the Turkish leader of hypocrisy, noting Turkey’s history of territorial aggression in Cyprus and its treatment of minorities, particularly the Kurds.
“Turkey, which conquered Northern Cyprus and controls Kurdish territories in the east, dares to lecture us on morality. Turkey, which built its economy on the Armenian Genocide, dares to accuse us of genocide. Turkey, which enforces Islamization by force, dares to speak about human rights,” Eliyahu said in a statement.