Erdogan: We Are Against Whoever Is on Israel’s Side

TEL AVIV — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said over the weekend that his country would oppose anyone who supports Israel. 

“Whoever is on the side of Israel, let everyone know that we are against them,” Erdogan said according to Iran’s Press TV.

Erdogan made his remarks while addressing senior officials from his ruling AKP party in Ankara.

“We do not approve of silence on the state terror that Israel blatantly carries out in Palestine,” Erdogan said.

While not mentioning the names of any countries, Erdogan’s comments seemed to be directed at the U.S.

Last week, President Donald Trump “prohibited” Turkey from acquiring F-35s over its purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system.

“I would like to once again express that no threats or sanctions … can prevent us from implementing our country’s security priorities,” Erdogan said on Saturday.

Last year, Erdogan came under fire for comments saying that the spirit of Adolf Hitler lived among some Israeli policymakers.

Erdogan also accused Israel of being a “terrorist state” after a skirmish on the Israel-Gaza border during the weekly Friday protests.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his part called Erdogan an “antisemitic dictator.”

“Turkey’s dictator Erdogan attacks Israel’s democracy while Turkish journalists and judges fill his prisons. What a joke!” Netanyahu said on Twitter.

Earlier this month, reports emerged that Israel had helped thwart 50 terror attacks by the Islamic State and Iran in 20 countries around the world. Twelve of the attacks were supposed to have taken place on Turkish soil — some of them during a period in which Turkey and Israel had frozen all diplomatic ties.