Sa’ar says Turkish foreign minister’s remarks are ‘incitement to genocide’

Fidan said that Israel had become “a burden that humanity can no longer bear” and called on the international community to impose sanctions on Jerusalem.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, of using language that amounted to “incitement to genocide” after the Turkish foreign minister described Israel as “a burden that humanity can no longer bear” and called for international action against the country during an interview with CNN Türk.

Responding in a post on X, Sa’ar said Fidan’s comments went beyond political criticism and constituted a call for Israel’s elimination.

“Fidan’s sickening words are textbook incitement to genocide,” Sa’ar wrote. “Dehumanizing the Jewish people as an ‘unbearable burden’ is the classic, horrific language of history’s worst eliminationist regimes.”

He urged foreign governments to denounce the remarks, writing: “The civilized world and Turkey’s NATO allies must unequivocally condemn this explicit call for the erasure of Israel.”

In the interview, Fidan argued that Israel had become “a burden that humanity can no longer bear” and called on the international community to impose sanctions on Jerusalem.

“No matter which framework you use, there is no parameter under which these people can be sustained,” Fidan said. He added that “the human conscience cannot bear it,” and that “political systems cannot sustain it, and economic systems cannot sustain it.”

Fidan also said Turkey “may be the only country” speaking out forcefully on the issue, adding, “this is a problem for all of you,” as he urged other governments to “take a diplomatic stance.”

Relations between Israel and Turkey, once characterized by robust trade ties, have deteriorated since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, invasion, with Turkey imposing a trade embargo and escalating its rhetoric against Israel.

His remarks came after Turkey condemned the Israeli Cabinet’s unanimous decision to recognize the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire.

In a statement earlier this week, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said: “The Israeli government, which has systematically persecuted the Palestinian people before the eyes of the entire world and is being tried at the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide against the people of Gaza, is seeking to cover up its own crimes through the political decision it has adopted regarding the events of 1915.”

The ministry added, “Turkey will continue to work resolutely to bring an end to Israel’s expansionist and destabilizing policies in the region.”