An Israeli Foreign Ministry social media post targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan outraged Türkiye, a steadfast champion of the Palestinian cause.
Ömer Çelik, spokesperson for Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), said in a statement on Sunday that the post by the Israeli ministry was "terrorism propaganda of the genocide network” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"It does not mean anything for anyone, but the strong voice of our president for humanity’s alliance will continue guiding those engaged in politics to preserve humanity’s dignity,” Çelik said in a social media post.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry branded Erdoğan "anti-Semitic,” an adjective now casually thrown at anyone opposing Israel’s genocidal actions toward Palestinians in Gaza and beyond.
Çelik stated that the "genocidal network is churning out lies, targeting our president.”
Erdoğan’s remarks during an event in Istanbul on Friday reignited rising anti-Turkish rhetoric in Israel. The president lashed out at the "radical, genocidal ideology of Zionism” in his speech.
"When we draw attention to the expansionist ambitions of Zionism, we are not doing so for ourselves, but on behalf of all the peoples of the region, regardless of their faith, and on behalf of humanity as a whole,” Erdoğan said at the event held to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.
"Even kites are seen as a threat and prevented from flying in Gaza, which the genocide network has turned into the world’s largest children’s cemetery. Millions of our brothers and sisters in Palestine alone are struggling to survive under extremely difficult conditions, deprived of even the most basic necessities. Likewise, in Lebanon, 1.3 million of our brothers and sisters have been forced to leave their homes due to attacks by the Israeli administration. More than 4,000 people have been killed, while more than 12,000 Lebanese, most of them women and children, have been injured. Israel’s current government, addicted to war, is trying every provocation imaginable to drag our entire region into instability.”
President Erdoğan said civilians pay the price for silence in the face of ruthless oppressors.
"Unfortunately, in recent history, civilians were forced to pay the price for the silence in the face of Hitler, Pol Pot and other ruthless tyrants. Millions of people from different backgrounds and faiths were subjected to genocide in Hitler’s concentration camps and Pol Pot’s killing fields. Sadly, humanity could do nothing but watch what was happening at the time. Today, the same mistake is being repeated in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.
"The necessary reaction is not being shown by the world to the genocide network’s policies, which recognize no rules, laws, principles, values or boundaries. Neither global institutions nor the international community are demonstrating the strong resolve needed to prevent massacres today, just as they failed to do so in the past. I believe we must now recognize this reality: As Muslims, we cannot get anywhere by placing our hopes in others. We must be strong, be capable of deterring threats, defend our rights and interests together, and jointly build peace and security in our region. That is why we say there is strength in alliances, and we are working to expand alliances and reduce disagreements both among ourselves and across the Islamic world,” he said.
"The lies and slanders targeting our President in the statement issued by the Israeli Foreign Ministry reflect the cowardly and rotten mentality of the criminals serving in the Israeli government, particularly (Benjamin) Netanyahu,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday in response to the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s post.
The ministry said Netanyahu and his "criminal network” had brought "historic shame” upon the entire Israeli people by committing genocide in Gaza and had displayed expansionism unprecedented in the modern history of the Middle East, making them a primary source of regional and global instability.
"The immunities enjoyed by Netanyahu and his criminal network are disappearing both legally and politically,” the statement said.
The ministry said the efforts of Israeli institutions, which it said operate in a manner similar to "Goebbels’ propaganda machine,” were no longer sufficient and that the international community no longer believed the Netanyahu government’s "lies.”
"Türkiye, under the leadership of our President, has maintained an honest and determined stance against the crimes committed during the Netanyahu era,” the ministry said. "We will continue to defend and voice the truth.”
Burhanettin Duran, head of the Turkish Presidency’s Communications Directorate, said in a social media post on Saturday that Israel’s statement was "a stark example of a mindset that resorts to slander and propaganda rather than confronting the facts.”
He said Israel was attempting to "conceal their aggression, the genocide they have committed, war crimes, and crimes against humanity” by "hiding behind the concept of ‘anti-Semitism.’”
Duran said Türkiye’s opposition was directed at Israel’s occupation, oppression, massacres and violations of international law, stressing that Erdoğan would continue defending the Palestinian cause and supporting the people of Gaza and regional stability.