Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is “the greatest obstacle to regional peace,” as Israeli attacks fuel growing instability across the Middle East, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.
Erdogan underlined that Israel is deliberately destroying civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, mosques, and churches, while targeting innocent women and children.
"Let me state this openly and bluntly: with all these atrocities, with all these attacks, the Netanyahu government is the greatest obstacle to regional peace," Erdogan said during the 51st meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul.
He also noted that Palestinians in Gaza live under dire conditions that are "even worse than those of the concentration camps of the Nazi forces."
Erdogan also recalled the ambitions of Germany's Nazi regime leader, Hitler, which "set the world on fire," adding that "Netanyahu’s Zionist ambitions serve no purpose other than dragging the world into disaster."
‘State terrorism’
President Erdogan also denounced recent Israeli strikes in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran, calling the June 13 attacks on Tehran an act of “state terrorism.”
Defending Iran’s response to Israeli attacks, Erdogan stated that Tel Aviv’s aggression undermines diplomatic efforts regarding Tehran’s nuclear programme.
"While enriching its nuclear capacity without abiding by any rules — and this is the greatest hypocrisy displayed by Israel — with the attacks carried out on the 13th of June, the Netanyahu government aimed to undermine the negotiation process," Erdogan said.
Attacking Iran shows that "Netanyahu's government and his murderers" are not willing to resolve the issues through diplomacy, the president added.
Erdogan also called on international actors to curb Israel’s inflammatory rhetoric and prevent further escalation of tensions.
