Ankara : Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday stepped up his rhetoric against Israel over its deadly air offensive on Gaza, accusing the Jewish state of committing “state terrorism” against the Palestinians.
Erdogan said that any normalization in the troubled ties between Israel and Ankara was currently out of the question. “Israel is continuing to carry out state terrorism in the region. Nobody, except us, tells it to stop,” Erdogan told members of his ruling party in parliament, accusing Israel of perpetrating a “massacre” of Palestinians. “To what extent will the world remain silent to this state terrorism? “Supporters from his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) often interrupted his address by shouting slogans like “Murderer Israel!.”
His comments came after a week of the deadliest violence in the Gaza Strip for years which has claimed at least 192 lives, sparking international condemnation. Israel on Tuesday accepted an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire. Erdogan welcomed the ceasefire proposal as “very positive” and “precious.” “I hope this ceasefire will be secured,” he said.