Jews in Turkey say Erdoğan always 'supportive'

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is not anti-Semitic as claimed by the United States, the Turkish Jewish community has said, describing the Turkish head of the nation as constructive and supportive towards the Jewish community.

"While tragedies in the region are deeply saddening and the global rise of anti-Semitism is unacceptable, it is unfair and reprehensible to imply that President Erdoğan is anti-Semitic. On the contrary, he has always been constructive, supportive and encouraging towards us," the Turkish Jewish community said on Twitter on May 19.

The statement was in response to a statement issued by the U.S. State Department which condemned recent remarks made by Erdoğan concerning the Israeli attacks against the Palestinian civilians.

"The United States strongly condemns President Erdoğan's recent anti-Semitic comments regarding the Jewish people and finds them reprehensible. We urge President Erdoğan and other Turkish leaders to refrain from incendiary remarks, which could incite further violence. We call on Turkey to join the United States in working to end the conflict," U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a written statement.

Erdoğan, in a statement following the weekly cabinet meeting, strongly criticized Israel for killing innocent civilians and for committing terrorism against the Palestinians. He also slammed U.S. President Joe Biden for supporting the Israeli government, saying the leader has "bloody hands."

Senior Turkish leaders also rejected accusations by the U.S. "Accusing our president of anti-Semitism is an illogical and untrue approach. This is a lie said about our president," Ömer Çelik commented in a series of tweets. "We call on the U.S. State Department to carefully...