ANKARA — Turkey remains defiant in the face of Israel’s diplomatic protest of comments made by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cursing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Turkey “will continue to speak the truth, and bring the indescribable persecution of the Palestinian people to the global agenda,” Turkish Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Oncu Keceli said in a statement on Friday.
Earlier Friday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry had summoned Turkey’s number two diplomat in the country to protest Erdogan’s criticism of Netanyahu.
In a fresh attack on the Israeli prime minister over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Erdogan told the crowd gathered at an election rally in central Anatolia on Thursday, “I’m leaving the person called Netanyahu in the Lord’s hands.” He then added, “May the Lord damn him.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that Turkey's charges d'affaires, Mehmet Sekerci, had been summoned to the ministry on his instructions to “convey a clear message to Erdogan."
“There is no God who will listen to those who support the atrocities and crimes against humanity committed by your barbaric Hamas friends,” Katz posted on the social media platform X. “Be quiet and shame on you!”
Speaking at additional rallies on Friday ahead of nationwide local polls on Sunday, Erdogan refrained from repeating his earlier statement, as of this writing, but Keceli said on Friday that Israel "targeted President Erdogan for speaking the entire truth.”
“The crimes committed by Israel in Gaza over the past six months can no longer be hidden. And Israel is on trial for genocide," he said.
Turkish-Israeli reconciliation in tatters
The tete-a-tete marks a fresh escalation between the two regional powers, with the war in Gaza leaving a nascent Turkish-Israeli detente in tatters.
Erdogan, ditching his initial cautious tone on the heels of Hamas' Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel, unleashed a series of scathing attacks on the Jewish state amid an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. In light of Erdogan's increasingly critical tone, Israel announced that it was reassessing diplomatic ties with Turkey.
The Turkish government reciprocated by recalling its ambassador to Israel in November, roughly 10 months after he had take up the post, which had remained empty for four years due to disagreements between the two countries.
The war put Erdogan in a highly tight spot between Ankara’s desire to mend fences with its Eastern Mediterranean neighbor and staunch support of the Palestinian cause within the Turkish leader’s voter base.
Despite Erdogan’s almost daily attacks at the Jewish state and the derailed diplomatic ties, the Turkish leader is under pressure to cut off trade ties with Israel.
He even came under fire over the issue by his ruling Justice and Development Party's coalition partners. The leader of tiny Islamist party, New Welfare, Fatih Erbakan, who defied calls from the AKP and fielded its own candidate in the race for Istanbul's mayoral office for the nationwide local elections next Sunday, hit out at the continuation of the trade between two countries on Friday.
"They are telling us that 'we're losing because of New Welfare Party.' It's not us who make you lose, it's you continuing trade with Israel," Erbakan said at an election rally in the country's southeast.
Mazlumder, a civic group close to Turkey's conservatives, filed criminal complaints against Turkish businessmen who continue trading with Israel earlier this month.
Turkey's exports to Israel stood at $1.1 billion dollars between October-December 2023, according to official data, slightly decreasing from the same period of the previous year.
Ankara doesn’t consider Hamas a terror outfit and the group’s political leaders divide their lives between Turkey and Qatar where they are based. Nearly 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed by the Israeli forces in Gaza in the war that broke out after the militant group’s unprecedented attack on Israel, which left at least 1,200 people dead. The militants also took roughly 200 hostages, including toddlers and babies some of whom still remain at the hands of Hamas.
Turkey hits back after Israel protests Erdogan's comments cursing Netanyahu
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22.03.2024
ANKARA — Turkey remains defiant in the face of Israel’s diplomatic protest of comments made by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cursing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Turkey “will continue to speak the truth, and bring the indescribable persecution of the Palestinian people to the global agenda,” Turkish Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Oncu Keceli said in a statement on Friday.
Earlier Friday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry had summoned Turkey’s number two diplomat in the country to protest Erdogan’s criticism of Netanyahu.
In a fresh attack on the Israeli prime minister over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Erdogan told the crowd gathered at an election rally in central Anatolia on Thursday, “I’m leaving the person called Netanyahu in the Lord’s hands.” He then added, “May the Lord damn him.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that Turkey's charges d'affaires, Mehmet Sekerci, had been summoned to the ministry on his instructions to “convey a clear message to Erdogan."
“There is no........
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