Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is no different from Adolf Hitler and compared Israel’s attacks on Gaza to the Nazis’ treatment of the Jewish people.
NATO member Turkey, which supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has criticized Israel’s air and ground attacks on Gaza and called the country a “terrorist state.” Turkey also advocates that Israeli leaders be tried in international courts.
Stepping up his rhetoric, Erdogan said Turkey would welcome academics and scientists who face persecution for their views on the Gaza conflict. He added that Western countries that support Israel are complicit in what he called war crimes.
“They used to talk bad about Hitler. How different are you from Hitler? They will make us miss Hitler. Is what this Netanyahu is doing less than what Hitler did? It is not,” said Erdogan.
“He is richer than Hitler and receives support from the West. All kinds of support come from the United States. And what did they do with all this support? They killed more than 20,000 Gazans,” he added.
Netanyahu responded by saying that the Turkish president should be the last person to lecture Israel.
“Erdogan, who commits genocide against the Kurds, who holds a world record for arresting journalists who oppose his government,” Netanyahu said in a statement, “is the last person who can preach morality to us.”
Despite its criticism of Israel, Turkey has maintained trade ties with the country, drawing backlash from opposition parties and Iran. Ankara says trade with Israel has fallen sharply since October 7, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a deadly border attack that killed 1,200 people, prompting Israel to start war in the enclave.
Por Tuvan Gumrukcu