Erdogan Lashes Out at Israel Over Gaza Operation

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a virulent anti-Israel speech on Tuesday during which he threatened that diplomatic  normalization will not happen as long as Israel continues it military actions in Gaza, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Erdogan characterized Israel’s attempts at self-defense as “killing innocent children in Gaza.”

In addition, the Turkish premier singled out Jewish Home faction chairwoman Ayelet Shaked, saying that her remark that “all Palestinians are our enemies,” showed that her “mentality is no different to that of Hitler,” Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.

“If these words were said by a Palestinian, the whole world would have denounced it,” Edrogan said.

Erdogan was apparently referring to a statement made by Shaked at the height of the Second Intifada, which she posted online on July 1:

“The Palestinian people declared war on us, and we must fight back. Not an operation, not low-intensity, not destroying terror infrastructure … This is a war between two nations. Who is the enemy? The Palestinian people. Why? Ask them, they started.”

When asked to comment on Erdogan’s speech, Shaked spokeswoman Tal Benesh quipped that this is “the end to all-inclusive vacations,” a reference to Israeli tourism in Turkey.

This article appeared in print on page 24 of the July 17th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.