Erdogan: Netanyahu must be stopped 'just like Hitler'

Published 25 September 2024 at 16.23

Foreign. With between 40,000 and 186,000 civilian casualties in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has drawn criticism and been accused of crimes against humanity from a number of quarters. Now Turkey wants the international community to step in and stop him, writes Politico.

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In a powerful speech during the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan harshly attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country's handling of the conflict in Gaza.

Erdogan likened Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and called on the world community to step in and stop him.

– Just as Hitler was stopped by an alliance of humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murderous network must be stopped by an alliance for humanity, Erdogan said in his speech.

He also accused Netanyahu of trying to “draw the entire region into war for his own political gain”.

Erdogan condemned the United Nations, which he said has failed to “prevent the genocide in Gaza” and argued for reforms within the organization, which he says is too focused on the interests of the permanent members of the Security Council.

Erdogan sharply criticized the United States, which provides unconditional support to Israel, and believed that the superpower is complicit in the violence against the Palestinians.

Although NATO countries such as the United States and Sweden would theoretically be obliged to intervene on Turkey's side at a regional conflict with Israel, such a development is in practice not conceivable with regard to the power relations that prevail in the USA.

The Turkish leader, for his part, drew parallels to the time when Turkey itself was a superpower and the then The Ottoman Empire controlled the entire current territory of Israel.

– We are against the massacre policy of the Israeli government and we are against oppression and tyranny, just like five centuries ago, he said.

Erdogan underlined also its support for a trial initiated by South Africa at the International Court of Justice to hold Israel accountable for its alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza.