Turkey – Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel on Saturday of having “surpassed Hitler in barbarism” through its attacks on Gaza, but warned Turks against taking out their anger on the country’s Jewish community.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Erdogan continued to ratchet up his rhetoric against the Jewish State over its offensive, threatening to further harm to already badly frayed relations between the two countries, once regional allies.
Hours earlier Israel advised its citizens against traveling to Turkey, citing “the public mood” after attacks on Israeli diplomatic missions during protests in Istanbul and Ankara against the Gaza offensive on Friday.
Palestinian officials say more than 330 people have been killed by Israeli strikes launched in response to rockets fired into Israeli territory by militants loyal to the Islamist group Hamas.
“(Israelis) have no conscience, no honor, no pride. Those who condemn Hitler day and night have surpassed Hitler in barbarism,” Erdogan told supporters at a political rally in the Black Sea city of Ordu.
He accused the United States of defending Israel’s “disproportionate” tactics, and bemoaned the failure of the Muslim world to take a stronger stance.
But Erdogan did warn his supporters against taking their anger out on the country’s Jewish population.
“I don’t approve of any (bad) attitude towards our Jewish citizens in Turkey, despite all this. Why? They are the citizens of this country,” he said. Around 17,000 Jews live in Turkey.
Protesters have taken to the streets of the NATO member’s two biggest cities for the last two nights, and were due to return later on Saturday. Local media reported an explosion of pro-Hitler tweets and some liberal Turks reacted with outrage on Twitter when a pro-government newspaper printed a Hitler-themed crossword.
On Friday U.S. representative Eliot Engel urged Erdogan to act after the same newspaper published an open letter calling on Turkish Jews to apologize for civilian casualties in Gaza.
“The disgusting letter published by the Turkish newspaper Yeni Akit has no place in any society and only serves to put innocent lives in danger,” Engel, the leading Democrat on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said in a statement.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said early on Saturday Israelis should “avoid non-essential visits” to Turkey or be especially vigilant and steer clear of anti-Israel demonstrations.
On Friday the ministry said it would pare back already an reduced staff at its embassy in Ankara and consulate in Istanbul. Erdogan is hoping to become Turkey’s first directly elected president in polls due in August, and anti-Israeli sentiment flows strongly through the largely conservative Sunni Muslim voter base he will rely on to give him victory.
The two countries have seen their relations degrade sharply in recent years, reaching crisis point when Israeli commandos stormed the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara sailing as part of a flotilla challenging the Jewish state’s naval blockade of Gaza. Ten people were killed.
Efforts to repair the damage had intensified in recent months after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for the raid, but hopes of a rapprochement appear to be fading, after Erdogan said on Friday that relations between the two countries would not improve while he remained in post.
Israel is far more humane to its enemies then you are to your own people, you dumb Turk(ey) !
when the IDF KILLS SIX MILLION HAMAS TERRORISTS we’ll talk to you and debate you about the ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Time to vote this guy out.
Now that Ahmadinejad is gone, someone has to assume the chief role of irrelevant idiot. And erDOGan is doing that quite efficiently.
Wait, is this the same guy who banned YouTube and Twitter? He can shove it right back where it came from.
His ignorance surpasses the three stooges.
Erdogan is snacking on his own festering wound of how he broke his own father’s liberty by standing on his grave with an axe in his hand.
Erdogan is as free in this world as a toilet with a broken plunger is fearful of overflowing. If he really wants to become the “Saint” he thinks he is, he can just close the deal and show the world that he really wears a swastica armband under his clothes. This man has more potential to instigate fear and corruption than a dollar bill on the floor of a wh-re house.
This is terribly disgusting. I can not believe that our leaders have not ever said much at all about Mr. Erdogan.
Mr. Obama is a criminal and I do not predict he will even smile that the world could be better. If Fox News gets on this, maybe it will raise awareness. I know I can not count on CNN with the ticket to blackened futures to be our friend. MSNBC is already kicking the chair out from under the Torah Student.
Terrible years here right now. I hope that we continue to become a light to the nations so that our voices can be heard and a future of Torah ensured.
Never Again.
Hey you little weasel, come here and i will be more than happy to show you barbarism. Drop dead you skunk.
Tayyip Erdofan, please supply some data to back up your claims. Third rate dictator.
Erdogan thinks he is like Putin. However, Turkey is still a democracy and he is not a Tzar.
it is time his govt overthrows him!
I am going to give 50 dollars to the ADL when Erdogan dies. It will be my way of saying G-d is True and Israel knows its enemies. Why not? Probably this would also be a good time to give since he is making those remarks. But I want something to look forward (to). G-d is Blessed. Baruch Hashem.
Give us a hand for Goebbels of Discovery Channel Outcome Management. Goebbels’ days were numbered.
Israel’s first mistake was to apologize to this dog for the deaths and injuries Israeli commandos inflicted on the peace lovers aboard the flotilla (after being attacked by them with chains and pipes as they boarded the ship to inspect it) that wanted to break the naval blockade. On top of that, Israel compensated the families of the attackers!
Erdogan AND AMERICA WILL THANK ISRAEL…HAMAS Is AN ENEMY OF OURS TOO….THANK YOU ISRAEL!