Israel was called a “terrorist state” by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a recent speech to his ruling party, according to CNN. Erdogan declared, “Israel is executing a plan to completely destroy a city and its inhabitants. I state unequivocally and frankly that Israel is a state that sponsors terrorism. The president of Turkey also promised to take action to guarantee that the political and military leaders of Israel are held accountable for their actions in Gaza by international courts. He reportedly declared, according to CNN, that “we will take steps to ensure that Israel’s political and military leaders who brutally murdered the oppressed people of Gaza will face trial in international courts.”
Responding to Erdogan’s remarks, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired back on social media platform X, accusing Erdogan of supporting the “terror state of Hamas.”
Netanyahu emphasised, “By contrast, there are forces that support the terrorists. One of them is President Erdogan of Turkey, who calls Israel a terrorist state, but supports the terror state of Hamas and bombed Turkish villages inside Turkey itself. So, we’re not going to get any lectures from them.”
Erdogan didn’t stop there, accusing Netanyahu of threatening Gaza with nuclear bombs. He warned, “I am telling Netanyahu, you have atomic bombs, nuclear bombs and you are threatening with them. We know this. And your end is near. You can have as many nuclear bombs as you want. No matter what you have, you are on your way out.”
Erdogan had cancelled a planned visit to Israel the previous month, asserting that Turkey has “no problem with the Israeli state; however, Ankara would never approve of Tel Aviv committing atrocities,” according to CNN.