Rabat- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly denounced the Gaza massacre where the death toll of Palestinians by Israeli gunfire rose to 50 in one day, Monday, May 14.
During a meeting with scholarship students of international news agency TRT World and Andalu News Agency in London, Erdogan condemned the mass murder, calling Israel a “terrorist state” and insisting that it has committed genocide: “What Israel has done is a genocide…I condemn this humanitarian drama, the genocide, from whichever side it comes, Israel or America,” according to the Independent.
Erdogan added that this was not the first time that Israel has committed genocide, claiming it has done so since the creation of its state in 1948.
Afterwards, Erdogan demonstrated his full support for Palestinians, saying that Turkey “will continue to stand with Palestinian people with determination.”
Erdogan pledged to deliver humanitarian aid and medical equipment to Gaza hospitals and to hold three days of mourning in Turkey for the slain Palestinians, beginning Tuesday.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to his official Twitter account on Tuesday, writing:“Erdogan is among Hamas’s biggest supporters and there is no doubt that he well understands terrorism and slaughter. I suggest that he not preach morality to us[.]”
Erdogan is among Hamas’s biggest supporters and there is no doubt that he well understands terrorism and slaughter. I suggest that he not preach morality to us
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) May 15, 2018
At the same time, Erdogan recalled Turkey’s ambassadors to Israel and the US, as declared by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag on Monday.
May 14 was one of the bloodiest days in Gaza’s history. Israeli forces injured more than 1,900 and killed over 50, people including eight children, who were protesting the move of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
In the days leading up to the inauguration of the US Embassy on Monday approximately 35,000 Gazans joined the protests.
