Turkey expels Israeli envoys, diplomatic ties deteriorate

The relations between Israel and Turkey have reached a new low following Ankara’s support of Hamas’ actions in Gaza. 

By: World Israel News Staff and JNS

Turkey has told the Israeli ambassador in Ankara and the consul in Istanbul to leave in protest of the violence in Gaza, in which 60 Palestinian rioters, including Hamas terrorists, were killed by Israeli forces on Monday as they attempted to breach the border.

Israeli Ambassador Eitan Na’eh was summoned to the Turkish foreign ministry and told to return to his country “for a period of time,” media reports said.

Turkey has also recalled its ambassador to Israel.

In response, Israel expelled Turkish Consul-General Hüsnü Gürcan Türkoğlu, who represents Turkey to the Palestinian Authority, from Jerusalem.

In an interview on Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called Israel a “terrorist state” and alleged that “what Israel has done is genocide.”

An angry statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry claimed that Israeli forces had been “encouraged” to shoot Palestinians.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retorted by telling Erdogan “not [to] preach morality to us.”

“Erdogan is among Hamas’ biggest supporters and there is no doubt that he well understands terrorism and slaughter,” Netanyahu said.

Erdogan’s  ‘hands drenched in blood’ of Kurdish civilians

Erdoğan responded again, saying that Netanyahu leads an “apartheid state.”

“Netanyahu is the PM of an apartheid state that has occupied a defenseless people’s lands for 60+ yrs in violation of UN resolutions,” Erdoğan wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “He has the blood of Palestinians on his hands and can’t cover up crimes by attacking Turkey.”

Netanyahu again lashed back stating that “the man who sends thousands of Turkish soldiers to maintain the occupation of northern Cyprus and invades Syria, will not preach to us when we defend ourselves against invasion by Hamas.”

“A man whose hands are drenched in the blood of countless Kurdish civilians in Turkey and Syria is the last one who can preach to us about military ethics,” he added.

Turkey is notorious for its massacre of the Kurds and its occupation of northern Cyprus.

While Israel agreed to a reconciliation with Turkey in 2016, diplomatic ties with the country have been strained at best.

Bennett: Recognize the Armenian genocide

Israel’s Education Minister Naftali Bennett also responded to Turkey’s belligerence by blasting the reconciliation deal with Turkey and calling for the recognition of the Armenian genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire during World War I, an extremely sensitive issue for Turkey.

“Erdoğan is soaked with Hamas terror from head to toe. It was a severe mistake to sign a compensation deal with him, worth tens of millions of dollars, following the Marmara incident,” Bennett tweeted Tuesday.

“At the time, I said he would return to hurt us, and I even voted against that shameful agreement, which unfortunately passed in the cabinet,” he added.

Erdogan is infamous for his support of the Hamas terror organization, which operates unhindered and directs acts of terrorism inside Israel from Turkish soil, and for his frequent violently worded and often anti-Semitic outbursts against the state of Israel.