ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday (Dec 27) that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was no different from Adolf Hitler and likened Israel’s attacks on Gaza to the treatment of Jewish people by the Nazis.
NATO member Türkiye, which supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has criticised Israel’s air and ground assault on Gaza, called it a “terror state” and said its leaders must be tried in international courts.
Sharpening his rhetoric, Erdogan said Türkiye would welcome academics and scientists facing persecution for their views on the conflict in Gaza, adding Western countries supporting Israel were complicit in what he called war crimes.
“They used to speak ill of Hitler. What difference do you have from Hitler? They are going to make us miss Hitler. Is what this Netanyahu is doing any less than what Hitler did? It is not,” Erdogan said.
“He is richer than Hitler, he gets the support from the West. All sorts of support comes from the United States. And what did they do with all this support? They killed more than 20,000 Gazans,” he said.
Netanyahu lashed out at Erdogan’s remarks.
“Erdogan, who is committing genocide against the Kurds and who holds the world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his regime, is the last person who can preach morality to us,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Accusing Erdogan of praising and hosting Hamas leaders, Netanyahu defended Israel’s military operation in Gaza.
Israel’s army is “fighting to eliminate the most abhorrent and brutal terrorist organisation in the world,” he said, referring to Hamas, adding that the group had “committed crimes against humanity”.
Despite the criticism, Türkiye has maintained commercial ties with Israel, drawing backlash from opposition parties and Iran. Ankara says trade with Israel has fallen sharply since Oct 7, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a deadly cross-border rampage that killed 1,200 people, prompting Israel to launch its war on Hamas.
Unlike its Western allies and some Arab nations, Türkiye does not view Hamas as a terrorist organisation.