Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday accused Benjamin Netanyahu of “following the path of Hitler” after the Israeli leader alleged he was an “antisemitic dictator” who had committed a “genocide” against the Kurds.
Relations between Turkey and Israel have sharply deteriorated since the Gaza war started in October 2023, with the pair regularly trading allegations of genocide and public insults.
The latest exchange erupted after Erdoğan on Wednesday said Israel’s actions in Lebanon and Syria were a threat to Turkish security.
“Turkey’s security does not start in Hatay; it starts in Aleppo, Damascus and Beirut,” Erdoğan said, referring to Turkey’s southernmost province and cities in Syria and Lebanon.
He warned that Turkey “will not tolerate any fait accompli in our neighboring countries,” in an apparent reference to Israeli efforts to create new realities on the ground through military action.
Netanyahu responded by vowing to continue military operations wherever necessary against threats from Iran and its proxies.
“The antisemitic dictator Erdogan, who commits genocide against the Kurds, supports the Hamas terrorist organization, oppresses his own people and imprisons political rivals, is the last person who can lecture Israel on morality,” he said in a statement.
“Israel … will continue to take forceful action against Iran and its proxies, which threaten the Middle East and the entire world.”
Erdoğan, who has frequently accused Netanyahu’s government of genocide in Gaza, with his top diplomat warning it might do the same in Lebanon, replied on Thursday.
“Those who follow Hitler’s path should not forget their fate will be like that of other tyrants in history,” he said.
“Under the current administration, Israel has become a factory producing distress, fueled solely by blood and tears, and producing nothing but instability and chaos,” he said, vowing to “ensure the perpetrators of such massacres are held accountable.”
Israel has been bombarding southern Lebanon since the Hezbollah militia began firing missiles at the Israeli north on March 2, dragging Lebanon into the Middle East war.
Despite a brief pause due to an April ceasefire, the fighting has continued despite ongoing talks in Washington to end the violence.
Israel has also been active in Syria, launching hundreds of strikes and regular incursions into the south, where it demands a demilitarized zone.
Turkey has been seeking to end its conflict with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which last year renounced its armed campaign against Ankara after four decades of violence that killed more than 40,000 people on both sides.
© Agence France-Presse