President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized Israel for trying to spread conflict across the region through provocations, as he slammed Western countries for their double standards in refusing to condemn Tel Aviv for its provocative acts, which threaten regional and global stability.
Speaking to reporters following a cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara, Erdoğan said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his administration are responsible for Iran's aerial attacks on April 13, but Western powers refuse to acknowledge this fact.
"The main actor responsible for the tension that gripped our hearts on the evening of April 13 is Netanyahu and his bloody administration," he said.
Noting that the weekend attacks have shown the double standards of the West and the potential of war in the region, the president said it is crucial to identify the main reason behind the April 13 attack.
"Since Oct. 7, the Israeli government has been taking provocative steps to fuel the fire in the region," Erdoğan said, adding that Israel’s attack on Iran’s consular building in Damascus, in violation of the Vienna Convention, was the last straw.
He continued by saying that not that many countries reacted against Israel’s attack, which completely disregarded international law.
"Those who have not voiced any opposition to Israeli aggression for months, are now racing to condemn Iran’s response," Erdoğan said, adding that they should actually condemn and criticize Netanyahu, who is responsible for killing 34,000 civilians, including women, children and babies, journalists.
"Fueling the fire, continuously spoiling Netanyahu administration benefits no one," he said, adding that such an unjust stance will lead to new tensions until the oppression and genocide in Gaza ends.
Erdoğan also said Türkiye did not allow the sale of any materials that could be used for military purposes by Israel, long before the massacres in Gaza.
He noted that Türkiye is the leading provider of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, dispatching the ninth vessel carrying 3,774 tons of aid supplies to the blockaded enclave.
Relations between Israel and Türkiye massively deteriorated after Israel launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip after an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Palestinian resistance group Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.
Iran began an airborne attack Saturday against Israel in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic facility in the Syrian capital Damascus. The strike killed at least seven members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two top generals.
Tehran has accused Israel of carrying out the attack and vowed to respond. Tel Aviv has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack but it has for months carried out several strikes against Iranian targets across Syria.
Iran and Hezbollah, its main ally in Lebanon, have said the attack will not go unpunished.
Many countries have urged restraint to avoid edging closer to a full-blown regional war.
March 31 elections
Erdoğan also said the March 31 municipal elections have shown that propaganda claiming they would be the last democratically-held elections in Türkiye was nothing but empty rhetoric.
He hailed the elections for being conducted in a way that would serve as an example to other democracies in the world.
"The ballot box, its honor and reputation, have won the March 31 election," he said, adding that the Turkish democracy is the biggest winner of the election process.
He also said he hopes that the opposition parties learn their lesson and do not make such baseless allegations, which damage Turkish democracy, in the future.