Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan went on the attack against Israel once again over the weekend, this time claiming Israel murders innocent people in cold blood.
In a speech to the Turkey Youth Foundation in Istanbul on Saturday, Erdoğan affirmed his county’s support for the Palestinians before saying that “the Jews in Israel kick men, but also women and children, when they’re on the ground.”
He said that “as Muslims, we deal with people directly, and if there are people who are brave enough to provoke us, we will teach them a lesson.”
Erdogan also told the audience, “Don’t be like the Jews.”
A number of Turkish journalists tweeted that some in the crowd called out for Erdoğan to bring about the Muslim reconquest of Jerusalem. Erdoğan replied: “Soon, God willing.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the Turkish leader via Twitter on Saturday night, saying, “Erdoğan—the occupier of northern Cyprus, whose army massacres women and children in Kurdish villages, inside and outside Turkey—should not preach to Israel.”
Meanwhile, tensions between Turkey and Greece were on the rise over the weekend following Istanbul’s repeated violation of Greek airspace over the Aegean Sea. The most recent violation occurred on Thursday, when Turkish fighter jets flew over the Greek island of Kastellorizo minutes after an airplane carrying Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos flew past it.
Following the incident, Kammenos said that “if Turkey makes even the slightest move in the region, we will crush it.”
Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff Evangelos Apostolakis warned the Turks not to carry out a military operation in Kastellorizo.
“If the Turks land on the island, we will destroy them. That is our red line,” he said.
