Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embarked on a new war of words, with the two heads trading insults again on Sunday.
Erdogan slammed Netanyahu as an “oppressor”, following the Israeli Prime Minister’s claim that he had massacred Kurds.
“You are an oppressor, cruel and at the head of state terror,” Erdogan said of Netanyahu.
He also said Israel was “occupying Palestine” and had committed “sins, crimes against humanity, massacres”.
Netanyahu hit back later on Sunday calling Erdogan an “anti-Semitic dictator” who is “obsessed with Israel”.
He is obsessed with Israel. He knows what a moral army is and he knows what a genuine democracy is, as opposed to an army that massacres women and children in Kurdish villages and a state which, to my regret, is becoming more dictatorial day by day.
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) December 23, 2018
Turkish officials also chimed in, criticizing the Israeli premier over his tweet on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as reported on Anadolu Agency.
On his official Twitter account the Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu wrote: “The occupier which kicks people lying on the ground is easily offended: @netanyahu is a cold-blooded killer of modern times, responsible for massacres of thousands of innocent Palestinians, bombing children on beaches.”
“Turkey will never stop exposing the truth,” he added.
The occupier which kicks people lying on the ground is easily offended: @netanyahu is a cold-blooded killer of modern times, responsible for massacres of thousands of innocent Palestinians, bombing children on beaches. Turkey will never stop exposing the truth. pic.twitter.com/gr5NcDwO8S
— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) December 23, 2018
“Accused of fraud in investigations carried out in Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to manipulate the international community,” Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party spokesman Omer Celik said in a tweet.
Celik said that Netanyahu is “disturbed” by Erdogan’s remarks in favor of humanity and oppressed people.
The spokesman emphasized that Turkey will continue to speak up against Israel’s unjust actions against the oppressed Palestinians and its practices that violate international law.
“It means that Netanyahu is disturbed by the operations carried out by the Turkish army and security forces against PKK targets, which carry out terrorist acts against our civilians and the oppressed Syrian, regardless of women and children,” Celik said.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU, has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people.
Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin also responded to the Israeli premier’s accusations.
“Instead of begging President Erdogan not to speak out the truth, @netanyahu should end the lawless occupation of Palestinian lands and the brutal oppression of Palestinian people.
“Bashing Erdogan or using Kurds as a political chip will not save him from his domestic troubles,” Kalin wrote in a tweet.
