Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the latter’s comments on likening the Israeli leader to Adolf Hitler. Erdogan commits genocide against Kurds and imprisons journalists, Benjamin Netanyahu said, adding that he should be the last person who should preach morality to others.
What Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
Sharpening his rhetoric against Israel’s Hamas war, Erdogan said that Turkey would welcome academics and scientists facing persecution for their views on the conflict in Gaza.
Western countries supporting Israel were complicit in what he called war crimes, the Turkish president said, adding, “They used to speak ill of Hitler. What difference do you have from Hitler? They are going to make us miss Hitler. Is what this Netanyahu is doing any less than what Hitler did? It is not. He is richer than Hitler, he gets the support from the West. All sorts of support comes from the United States. And what did they do with all this support? They killed more than 20,000 Gazans.”
What Benjamin Netanyahu responded
Benjamin Netanyahu responded by saying, “Erdogan, who commits genocide against the Kurds, who holds a world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his rule. He is the last person who can preach morality to us.”
What is Turkey’s stand on Gaza war
Turkey- a member of NATO- has supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Earlier as well, Erdogan has criticised Israel’s air and ground assault on Gaza and called Tel Aviv a “terror state” saying that its leaders must be tried in international courts.
What’s happening in Gaza
Over 20,900 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, have been killed since Israel retaliated with ground and air strikes in Gaza following Hamas’ rampage on October 7 which killed almost 1,200 people. Around 240 people were taken hostage but 100 remain in captivity in Gaza as per Israel. Others were released under a truce between Israel and Hamas which was brokered by Qatar and Egypt acting as mediators.
