Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is no different from Adolf Hitler and likened Israel's attacks on Gaza to the treatment of Jewish people by the Nazis.
Create a free account to read this article
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
NATO member Turkey, which supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has criticised Israel's air and ground assault on Gaza, called it a "terror state" and said its leaders must be tried in international courts.
Sharpening his rhetoric, Erdogan said Turkey would welcome academics and scientists facing persecution for their views on the conflict in Gaza, adding that Israel's allies were complicit in what he called war crimes.
"They used to speak ill of Hitler. What difference do you have from Hitler? They are going to make us miss Hitler. Is what this Netanyahu is doing any less than what Hitler did? It is not," Erdogan said.
"He is richer than Hitler, he gets the support from the West. All sorts of support comes from the United States. And what did they do with all this support? They killed more than 20,000 Gazans," he said.
Netanyahu responded by saying the Turkish president should be the last person to lecture Israel.
"Erdogan, who commits genocide against the Kurds, who holds a world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his rule," Netanyahu said in a statement, "is the last person who can preach morality to us".
Despite its criticism of Israel, Turkey has maintained commercial ties, drawing a backlash from opposition parties and Iran.
Turkey says trade with Israel has fallen sharply since October 7, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a deadly cross-border rampage that killed 1200 people, prompting Israel to launch its war on Hamas.
Unlike its NATO allies and some Arab countries, Turkey does not view Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
Australian Associated Press
