Turkish Prime Minister declares Israel terrorist state for Gaza attacks

Declaring Israel a terrorist state for attacks on Gaza, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has underlined hostility for his former ally since relations between them collapsed in 2010.

After nearly a week of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, the Turkish premier uttered server comments about Israel.

While speaking to a conference of the Eurasian Islamic Council in Istanbul he noted, “Those who associate Islam with terrorism close their eyes in the face of mass killing of Muslims; turn their heads from the massacre of children in Gaza. For this reason, I say that Israel is a terrorist state, and its acts are terrorist acts.”

It is vital to mention here that bilateral relation between Israel and Turkey, once Israel’s only Muslim ally, crumbled after Israeli marines stormed an aid ship in 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip. Nine Turks were killed in clashes with activists on board.

Replying to Obama’s statement he said, “I find some leaders’ approach quite interesting, they claim that Israel is exercising its self-defense correctly. What kind of justice is this?”

Israeli strikes killed 32 Palestinians in the last 24 hours, taking the Gaza death toll to 109 as UN chief Ban Ki-moon joined efforts to end the worst violence in four years and Israel’s inner circle of ministers mulled their next move.

As the violence raged for a sixth day, an Israeli missile killed a senior Islamic Jihad man in a Gaza City tower housing Palestinian and international media, the second time in as many days it has been targeted.

According to the reports, the military has struck more than 1,350 targets in Gaza, and 640 rockets have hit southern Israel while another 324 have been intercepted.

The violence, coming ahead of an Israeli general election on January 22, raised the spectre of a broader Israeli military campaign like its 22-day Operation Cast Lead, launched at the end of December 2008.

Analysts say the Israeli leadership appears satisfied with the success of Operation Pillar of Defence and that it could be ready for a ceasefire. But the Jewish state has also signaled a readiness to expand the operation.

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Posted by Web Desk on Nov 20 2012. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.