Erdoğan claims Israel’s mentality ‘no different from Hitler’ as daughter joins Istanbul protest

Israel’s approach to the Palestinians is no different to the mentality of Adolf Hitler, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, accusing Israel of committing “systematic atrocity and state terror” against the Palestinians since 1948. While he welcomed Egypt’s initiative for a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, Erdoğan said a cease-fire was not enough and stressed that Israel should “immediately lift the illegal embargo on Palestine.”

“What Israel has been doing in Gaza since last week is not explainable. Israel continues to terrorize. Moving beyond individual terrorism, it’s now committing state terror,” he said, speaking in his weekly address to his parliamentary group on July 15.

Erdoğan’s statements come after the Israeli military’s deadly offensive against Gaza that has claimed the lives of more than 200 Palestinians so far. The Turkish prime minister, now running for the presidency, is well-known for his sharp accusations against Israel, particularly since 2010 when Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish citizens on the board of Mavi Marmara vessel carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza under Israeli siege.  

Though he welcomed Egypt’s move to broker a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel and expressed his hope for a deal, Erdoğan recalled that a similar cease-fire was also reached in 2012. “It seems that the blood of innocent Palestinian innocent children is once again being used in the dirty politics of the Middle East,” he added.

“Our faith is not in balances, but in God. We are not going to be among those who keep silent in the name of balances at the expense of betraying their history, ancestors, and civilization. One of the...