Turkey slams Israel for calling Erdogan ‘war criminal’

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has condemned a recent social media post by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, calling it an attempt to cover up Israel’s crimes.

Earlier on Wednesday, Katz had denounced Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a “war criminal” for actions taken along the Turkey-Syria border. In his social media post, Katz addressed the Turkish president directly: “Be quiet and shame on you.”

But the Turkish Foreign Ministry quickly responded.

“We consider the disrespectful post by the Israeli Foreign Minister targeting our esteemed president as a tone that can only be adopted by an official of a state accused of genocide,” said a ministry statement.

It emphasised that such accusations are part of Israel’s efforts to obscure its own criminal actions.

Criticising the social media post, the ministry said: “Such slander and lies are part of Israel’s efforts to cover up the crimes it has committed.”

Turkey will continue to fight for peace and justice, it said.