Erdoğan says Israel is committing 'genocide' in Gaza
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke before a crowd of supporters in Mersin on Thursday. (Photo: DHA)
July 24, 2014, Thursday/ 21:36:25/
TODAYSZAMAN.COM WITH WIRES
/ ISTANBUL
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has claimed that Israel is committing 'genocide' in Gaza, defending his previous remarks likening Israel's actions to those of Hitler.
"I completely stand by my [previous] comments. Because Nazism, the fascism applied by Hitler.. if you put all these on the table just like that ... you can see that what Israel does to Palestine has surpassed to what Hitler did to them. Right now we don't accept this persecution, massacre, genocide by Israel," Erdoğan said in comments to CNN that was aired on Thursday.
The prime minister said when he met late Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Tel-Aviv, he used an expression that "most joyful experience in my life was when I was in top of tanks in Palestine."
"I can never forget this," Erdoğan said, adding that this clearly displays viewpoint of one human toward another.
"At the moment Israel's position in the Palestine is apparent. When we meet and discuss with our American friends, whether it is Mr. Bush or Mr. Obama, they always refer to the two-state structure in the region. We kept working on that with Palestine, meaning that you accept Israel and Israel accepts you. Facing such a picture [today] is beyond comprehension that Israel is still defended by the West. And the world is silent about it. Therefore we cannot remain silent and we will not be silent," Turkish leader added.
Turkey was once considered by Washington as a credible broker in the Middle East peace process, particularly given its channels of communication with Hamas, but that changed as Erdoğan adopted an increasingly anti-Israel stance.
"At the moment, Hamas is prepared for everything in order to achieve a ceasefire... (Palestinian President Mahmoud) Abbas is prepared too," Erdoğan said. "Israel is not even approaching such a thing [peace] and is spitting death, spitting blood," he stated.
Erdoğan, who is campaigning for a presidential election on Aug. 10, told a rally of supporters in the southern port city of Mersin on Thursday that Turkey would push for Israel to be tried at an international criminal court if it kept up its assault on Gaza.
Turkey, a member of the US-led NATO military alliance, was once Israel's closest regional ally but has become one of its most vitriolic critics, with Erdoğan last weekend accusing it of "surpassing Hitler in barbarism" with its Gaza offensive.
"If Israel continues with this attitude, it will definitely be tried at international courts," Erdoğan said.
"We will see this happen and Turkey will struggle for this," he told the cheering crowd.
His rhetoric plays well with his electoral base of largely conservative Sunni Muslim voters, who he hopes will hand him victory in next month's poll, the first time Turkey's president will have been elected by a popular vote and not by parliament.
There is widespread anger at the civilian casualties caused by Israel's offensive against Gaza, which is aimed at stopping rockets being fired into Israel by militants loyal to Hamas.
On Thursday Israeli forces shelled a UN-run school sheltering Palestinians in the northern Gaza strip, the Gaza health ministry said, killing at least 15 people and raising the conflict's death toll to nearly 750.
Israel, which says it has a right to defend itself, has lost at least 32 soldiers in clashes inside Gaza and with Hamas raiders who have slipped under the fortified frontier in tunnels. Palestinian rockets and mortar bombs have killed three civilians in Israel.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said earlier on Thursday that Turkey was working with international partners to negotiate both a ceasefire and access for humanitarian aid.
"The US, Turkey, Qatar and Egypt have been working for the last five days to ensure an immediate ceasefire," he told Turkish broadcaster AHaber, adding that Ankara was in constant contact with Palestinian leaders.
Israel said last week it was reducing its diplomatic presence in Turkey after protesters pelted its consulate in İstanbul with stones and draped Palestinian flags on the ambassador's residence in Ankara.
The US State Department has called Erdoğan's previous remarks likening an Israeli MP to Hitler "offensive and wrong".
The New York-based American Jewish Congress said Erdoğan had become the world's "most virulent anti-Israeli leader" and demanded he return an award it gave him a decade ago, partly for his efforts to broker peace between Israel and Palestinians.
"I completely stand by my [previous] comments. Because Nazism, the fascism applied by Hitler.. if you put all these on the table just like that ... you can see that what Israel does to Palestine has surpassed to what Hitler did to them. Right now we don't accept this persecution, massacre, genocide by Israel," Erdoğan said in comments to CNN that was aired on Thursday.
The prime minister said when he met late Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Tel-Aviv, he used an expression that "most joyful experience in my life was when I was in top of tanks in Palestine."
"I can never forget this," Erdoğan said, adding that this clearly displays viewpoint of one human toward another.
"At the moment Israel's position in the Palestine is apparent. When we meet and discuss with our American friends, whether it is Mr. Bush or Mr. Obama, they always refer to the two-state structure in the region. We kept working on that with Palestine, meaning that you accept Israel and Israel accepts you. Facing such a picture [today] is beyond comprehension that Israel is still defended by the West. And the world is silent about it. Therefore we cannot remain silent and we will not be silent," Turkish leader added.
Turkey was once considered by Washington as a credible broker in the Middle East peace process, particularly given its channels of communication with Hamas, but that changed as Erdoğan adopted an increasingly anti-Israel stance.
"At the moment, Hamas is prepared for everything in order to achieve a ceasefire... (Palestinian President Mahmoud) Abbas is prepared too," Erdoğan said. "Israel is not even approaching such a thing [peace] and is spitting death, spitting blood," he stated.
Erdoğan, who is campaigning for a presidential election on Aug. 10, told a rally of supporters in the southern port city of Mersin on Thursday that Turkey would push for Israel to be tried at an international criminal court if it kept up its assault on Gaza.
Turkey, a member of the US-led NATO military alliance, was once Israel's closest regional ally but has become one of its most vitriolic critics, with Erdoğan last weekend accusing it of "surpassing Hitler in barbarism" with its Gaza offensive.
"If Israel continues with this attitude, it will definitely be tried at international courts," Erdoğan said.
"We will see this happen and Turkey will struggle for this," he told the cheering crowd.
His rhetoric plays well with his electoral base of largely conservative Sunni Muslim voters, who he hopes will hand him victory in next month's poll, the first time Turkey's president will have been elected by a popular vote and not by parliament.
There is widespread anger at the civilian casualties caused by Israel's offensive against Gaza, which is aimed at stopping rockets being fired into Israel by militants loyal to Hamas.
On Thursday Israeli forces shelled a UN-run school sheltering Palestinians in the northern Gaza strip, the Gaza health ministry said, killing at least 15 people and raising the conflict's death toll to nearly 750.
Israel, which says it has a right to defend itself, has lost at least 32 soldiers in clashes inside Gaza and with Hamas raiders who have slipped under the fortified frontier in tunnels. Palestinian rockets and mortar bombs have killed three civilians in Israel.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said earlier on Thursday that Turkey was working with international partners to negotiate both a ceasefire and access for humanitarian aid.
"The US, Turkey, Qatar and Egypt have been working for the last five days to ensure an immediate ceasefire," he told Turkish broadcaster AHaber, adding that Ankara was in constant contact with Palestinian leaders.
Israel said last week it was reducing its diplomatic presence in Turkey after protesters pelted its consulate in İstanbul with stones and draped Palestinian flags on the ambassador's residence in Ankara.
The US State Department has called Erdoğan's previous remarks likening an Israeli MP to Hitler "offensive and wrong".
The New York-based American Jewish Congress said Erdoğan had become the world's "most virulent anti-Israeli leader" and demanded he return an award it gave him a decade ago, partly for his efforts to broker peace between Israel and Palestinians.
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