Turkey hits back at Netanyahu remarks on Erdogan

Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin condemned remarks by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who strongly reacted to the US decision on Jerusalem.

In a written statement issued on Sunday, Kalin urged Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territory instead of attacking Turkey and its leader.

"Those who think that Jerusalem, our first Qiblah [direction of prayers], will become the capital of the occupation state by making a fait accompli, are wasting their time."

"Instead of attacking our country and our leader, the Israeli authorities should end the occupation of Palestinian territories," Kalin said.

The spokesman said that Israel has ignored international law and occupied territory that has belonged to Palestinians for hundreds of years.

"It is not possible to take seriously the accusations and claims made – which murdered thousands of innocent Palestinians, and turned the lands of Palestinians into open prisons – to suppress their guilty feelings."

"Like the rest of the world, the Republic of Turkey will continue to support the rights, the law and the oppressed people in Palestine," he added.

Shift in US policy

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided” capital and said the US Embassy would relocate from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The dramatic shift in Washington’s Jerusalem policy triggered demonstrations in the occupied Palestinian territories, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq and other Muslim countries.

In a speech on Sunday in central Turkey, Turkish President Erdogan said, "Israel is a terror state." He called the Israeli forces "terrorists," referring to a photograph of a blindfolded Palestinian youth being led away by more than a dozen soldiers in the West Bank.

"We won't leave Jerusalem to the mercy of a child-murdering country," Erdogan said, accusing Israel of having no values other than "occupation and plunder."

Erdogan said Turkey would continue diplomatic efforts to reverse President Donald Trump's announcement, which he calls "null."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Erdogan at a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Sunday, criticising Turkey's policy on the Kurdish issue and Hamas, the Palestinian resistance movement.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem – now occupied by Israel – might eventually serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state.