Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday blasted Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu for "daring" to attend the weekend's anti-terror solidarity march in Paris, accusing him of leading "state terrorism" against the Palestinians. The comments were the latest verbal assault against Netanyahu by Erdogan, under whose rule Turkey's relations with Israel have steadily deteriorated.
"I also hardly understand how he (Netanyahu) dared to go there. For once, you give an account for the children, women you massacred," Erdogan told a joint press conference in Ankara alongside Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. Abbas and Netanyahu, as well as Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, all joined the solidarity march in Paris in the memory of 17 people killed in Islamist terror attacks last week.
But Erdogan said Netanyahu had no right to be there after nearly 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed in Israel's onslaught on Hamas-controlled Gaza earlier this year. "How can you see this individual who carries out state terrorism by massacring 2,500 people in Gaza waving his hand?" said Erdogan.
"He is waving his hand as if people are very enthusiastically waiting for him," said Erdogan, referring to the images of Netanyahu acknowledging supporters in Paris. Erdogan is known for his angry outbursts at the Jewish state, declaring in July that Israel had "surpassed Hitler in barbarism". In 2009, Erdogan walked off the stage at the World Economic Forum after an angry exchange with the Israeli president, Shimon Peres.
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