Israel calls its ambassadors back from Turkey over Erdogan's 'war criminal' remark

Israel has summoned ambassadors from Turkey following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s accusations that it was acting in a “war criminal” manner.

Speaking to hundreds of protesters at an Istanbul pro-Palestinian event, he made the remarks.

In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen gave the order for diplomats to go back.

“The most moral army in the world” is Israel, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Three weeks after Hamas began its offensive on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,400 people and the kidnapping of 229 more, Israel has increased the scope of its operations on the Gaza Strip.

More than 7,500 Palestinians have reportedly died as a result of Israel’s retaliatory strikes since then, according to the Gaza health ministry, which is overseen by Hamas.

Speaking on Saturday to a gathering of several hundred thousand Palestinian supporters, the president of Turkey declared that “the West is the main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza.”

“Israel has been openly committing war crimes for 22 days, but the Western leaders cannot even call on Israel for a ceasefire, let alone react to it,” he stated.

He declared that Israel was acting in the manner of a “war criminal” and that it was attempting to “eradicate” Palestinians.

“Obviously, every nation has the right to defend itself,” he said. But in this scenario, where is the justice? Just a heinous bloodbath is taking place in Gaza; there is no justice.”

It comes after statements made earlier on Saturday on X, formerly known as Twitter, by the Turkish leader, who stated that Israel “must immediately stop this madness and end its attacks” and that the most recent escalation had targeted “innocent civilians” and exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Israel’s Foreign Minister, Mr. Cohen, said on X shortly after President Erdogan concluded his speech at the rally, saying, “Given the grave statements coming from Turkey, I have ordered the return of diplomatic representatives there in order to conduct a re-evaluation of the relations between Israel and Turkey.”

Subsequently, Israeli Prime Minister Mr. Netanyahu declared: “We are not guilty of war crimes. It is hypocritical of you to believe that you can charge our soldiers with war crimes. The most moral army in the world.”

He charged Hamas with crimes against humanity by “using their people as human shields” and stated that the Israel Defense Forces are taking efforts to safeguard civilians.

Relations between the two nations have always been tight.

After ten pro-Palestinian Turkish activists were killed in fighting with Israeli commandos who boarded a Turkish-owned ship in an attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, Turkey severed diplomatic ties with Israel in 2010.

In 2016, relations were repaired, but in 2018, a disagreement over Israel’s murder of Palestinians during protests along the Gaza-Israel border led to the expulsion of each other’s top diplomats.

Turkey, unlike the US and the UK, does not view Hamas as a terrorist organization. It has traditionally welcomed its participants and supported a two -state solution.