The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued an official response condemning a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, TRT Haber reported, BTA reported.
Earlier today, Erdogan said that Israel's recent strikes on Syria and Lebanon also pose a threat to Turkey, warning: “Our response will be clear and strong in case the rights of Turkish citizens or Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean are violated“. In his statement, the Turkish president also called for a stop to Israeli aggression, which he described as “a threat to the entire world“.
In response to this statement, Netanyahu shared a post on his profile in Ex, in which he wrote: “The anti-Semitic dictator Erdogan – who commits genocide against the Kurds, supports the terrorist organization “Hamas“, oppresses his own people and imprisons his political opponents – is the last person who can lecture the state of Israel on matters of morality.“
In its position on Netanyahu's statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry described the Israeli prime minister's words as “an attempt to mislead and manipulate the international community“, and the accusations he made as “groundless, provocative and untrue“.
“Netanyahu, the “genocide expert“, cannot conceal his responsibility for the grave crimes he has committed by resorting to lies to cover up the truth“, it said further in the statement.
The news comes amid rising tensions in Israeli-Turkish relations, which were sparked by a statement by Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci regarding Jerusalem.