Erdogan: Israel is a terrorist state
Turkish PM says 'Those who associate Islam with terrorism close their eyes in the face of mass killing of Muslims'
In a conference of the Eurasian Islamic Council in Istanbul held on Monday, the Turkish prime minister accused Israel of carrying out "terrorist acts" in Gaza.
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He further added, "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," he added.
On Saturday, Erdogan spoke firmly against Israel. In a speech given at Cairo University he accused Israel of "turning the region into a blood swamp. Every drop of Palestinian blood is pouring from the veins of all Muslims and every tear dropping from their eyes is our tear too."
He also decried Israel's airstrikes on Gaza on Friday as a pre-election stunt in which innocent people are being killed. "Before this election they (Israel) shot these innocent people in Gaza for reasons they fabricated," he told reporters in Istanbul.
