Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be tried as a war criminal over Israel’s ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip, referring to the Likud party leader as the “butcher of Gaza.”
In a speech to a meeting of an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) committee in Istanbul, Erdogan said that Gaza is Palestinian land and will always belong to the Palestinians.
“Israel is not only a murderer but also a thief,” Erdogan said, according to Turkish state media, adding “We cannot let Israel occupy Gaza once again.”
Erdogan charged that “those who invade Gaza will seek other places tomorrow. Gaza butcher Netanyahu revealed he has expansionist ideals.”
Erdogan has used extreme rhetoric since the war in Gaza began
The Turkish president has used anti-Israel rhetoric repeatedly since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, in a massacre that killed 1,200, included rape and other atrocities, and involved the abduction of more than 240 people into Gaza as hostages.
In an hour-long speech in October, Erdogan said that Hamas was not a terrorist organization but rather “freedom fighters.” In November, he said that Israel was a “terror state.” And on Saturday, after a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended when the Palestinian group launched rockets into Israel, the Turkish president was quoted as saying that “there was an opportunity for peace [in Gaza], and unfortunately, we have lost this opportunity for now due to Israel’s uncompromising approach.”
Other politicians have also used extremist and antisemitic rhetoric: after a hospital in Gaza was hit by an errant Islamic Jihad rocket, misattributed to Israel, a politician from Turkey’s ruling AKP party representing a small municipality called Atakum said he was praying for the soul of Hitler, and that the world will find peace when it is cleansed of Jews.
In response to comments such as these, Israel recalled its diplomats from Turkey. Antisemitism, meanwhile, has surged in the country since October 7.
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