Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who since the outbreak of the war has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide, said that his country stands behind the leadership of Hamas, and stated that it is not a terrorist organization. “No one can lead us to say that Hamas is a terrorist organization. Turkey is a country that talks openly with the leaders of Hamas about everything, and stands firmly behind them.” In a speech he gave on the comparison between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Nazi oppressor Adolf Hitler: “Netanyahu and his government have earned their place alongside Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin as today’s Nazis, with the humanitarian crimes they commit in Gaza,” claimed the Turkish president.
Erdogan, who since the outbreak of the war has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide, has again and again attacked Israel in a shameful and shocking manner. In his speech, he also added that “it is important to continue doing what is necessary so that the official bodies in Israel bear responsibility for the massacres in Gaza, in accordance with international law.”
Erdogan has already accused Israel of carrying out a massacre in the Gaza Strip, and even said that Netanyahu is the “führer of today”. Last January he even said that his country is providing documents and documentation for the discussion in The Hague on genocide – and will continue to do so. “I believe that Israel will be convicted there. We believe in the justice of the International Court of Justice,” Erdogan said at the time.
In November, Erdogan claimed that “Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, we will act in the international arena to prevent it” and stated that it is a “terrorist state”. The Turkish president also claimed that Hamas is “a party that won elections in Palestine” – even though such elections have not been held in the Gaza Strip since 2006, and in fact the terrorist organization took control of the Strip in 2007 after battles with Fatah.
Even earlier, on November 4, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced that the ambassador to Israel, Sakin Özkan Turunler, would return to Ankara for consultations following the war in Gaza and the IDF’s activities in the Gaza Strip. And Israel’s refusal to calls for a cease-fire and an unceasing flow of humanitarian aid, it was decided to return our ambassador to Tel Aviv for consultations in Ankara.”
In response to Erdogan, Netanyahu said: “Israel that adheres to the laws of war will not accept moral preaching from Erdogan, who supports murderers and rapists of the terrorist organization Hamas, denies the Armenian Holocaust, massacres Kurds in his own country and elevates regime opponents and journalists.”
The chairman of the state camp, Minister Benny Gantz, said that “Erdoğan’s standing behind Hamas makes him a supporter of crimes against humanity, and comparing the Prime Minister of Israel to dictators is the height of hypocrisy. The fact that Erdogan believes that Hamas is not a terrorist organization explains his conduct towards his citizens. Israel will continue to adhere to international law even in the war against those who have proven that they have no human image.”
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that “Erdoğan’s support for the murder and sex crimes of Hamas against the Jews and the State of Israel, makes him one of the greatest oppressors and anti-Semites in history, and Turkey the biggest terrorist-supporting country in the world alongside Iran. What a disgrace to the republic founded by the father of modern Turkey, Kemal Atatürk.”
