‘Who is on Israel’s side is against us,’ says Erdogan after Palestinian deaths
‘Who is on Israel’s side is against us,’ says Erdogan after Palestinian deaths
Jul 31, 2019
ANKARA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Israel and its allies for allowing a “state of terror […] in Palestine,” declaring: “Whoever is on Israel’s side, know that we are against them.”
“We do not approve of the silence about Israel’s shameless terror in Palestine,” Erdogan said, addressing senior provincial officials from his Ankara Justice and Development Party, according to Iranian PressTV.
Erdogan has been a fierce critic of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, denouncing the prime minister currently bogged down in multiple corruption and bribery investigations as “the leading thief in Israel” and “a tyrant who slaughters 7-year-old Palestinian children.”
When Israel adopted its controversial “Jewish State” law, Erdogan compared the change to “Hitler’s spirit […] resurfaced among some Israeli authorities.”
However, his latest comments may also be interpreted as a pinch in Washington after the US “suspended” Turkey from the F-35 program , condemning the purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems as a betrayal of the security interests of NATO.
While the Trump administration has made it clear that Ankara may return to the program if it leaves Russian equipment, Erdogan has hinted that he is prepared to distance Turkey from the US arms market by publicly considering canceling an advanced purchase of 100 “Boeing aircraft.”
Israeli military forces killed 56 Palestinian children and wounded close to 2,700 in the context of demonstrations, clashes and search and seizure operations” in 2018, according to a UN report released on Friday, which confirms many other investigative missions. The number of children killed was the highest since 2014, when Israel waged its most recent unilateral war against Gaza.
The UN Security Council attempted to denounce the Israeli demolition of 10 Palestinian apartment buildings in the Wadi Hummus area last week, drafting a resolution condemning the destruction for “compromising the viability of the two-state solution and the prospect of only and lasting peace “only for the US to veto the movement.
