Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan greets parliamentarians from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the parliament in Ankara, Turkey July 24, 2018. Kayhan Ozer/Presidential Palace/Handout via Reuters
Istanbul: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday called Israel a “fascist” state for a controversial law passed last week in parliament defining Israel as a nation-state of the Jewish people. Turkey has led condemnation in the Islamic world of a hotly debated new law adopted by the Knesset last week.
In his first reaction to the law, Erdogan did not mince words, likening Israel’s leadership to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and even drawing parallels between racial policy in Nazi Germany and modern Israel. “This measure has shown without leaving the slightest room for doubt that Israel is the world’s most Zionist, fascist and racist state,” Erdogan said in a speech to his ruling party. Erdogan saidthere was “no difference between Hitler’s obsession with the Aryan race and Israel’s understanding that these ancient lands are meant only for Jews.”
“The spirit of Hitler, which led the world to a great catastrophe, has found its resurgence among some of Israel’s leaders,” he added.
Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the Israeli law was “a shameless attempt to institutionalise discrimination against the Palestinian people” while Turkey’s criticism was “a universal call for justice and peace”.
Turkey and Israel in 2016 normalised ties after relations were downgraded for over half a decade following the crisis sparked by the May 2010 deadly storming of a Turkish ship by Israeli commandos. The rapprochement received the warm applause of the United States, which has always been keen to see a good relationship between Israel, its main ally in the Middle East, and NATO partner Turkey. But tensions have flared again in recent months, particularly after US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.
