Turkish PM accuses Israel of ‘genocide’ in Gaza

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan once again lashed out over the shelling of Gaza on July 18, claiming Israel was committing “genocide” on the Palestinian people.

“[Israel] has never pretended to be pro-peace. It has always tormented [the Palestinian people] and today it is continuing to do so,” Erdoğan said, stressing that good relations with Israel were impossible under the current circumstances.

“The government and I will never look positively [at Israel] as long as we are in power … [Israel] may seem like the winner for now. But it will eventually be defeated,” Erdoğan added.

He also accused Israel of threatening the peace in the Middle East and the world, while blaming the U.S., Russia and other world powers for being passive in condemning Israel’s actions.

“They want to progress [but they only] express their concerns [over the situation]. It’s impossible to get somewhere by only expressing concerns,” the prime minister said, adding the United Nations was undergoing a test over its role as the world’s “peace keeper.”

Erdoğan also underlined that the attacks by Israel were not related to the death of the three Israeli children whose bodies were found in June.

“These are all lies. Israel is the country that best knows how to kill children. I said it before at the Davos Summit. They shot children on the beach at that time. Now they are killing children on the beaches with bombs.”

Israel’s offensive against Gaza entered its 11th day with the army pounding the coastal strip by air and sea, while tanks massed along the border continued the assault. The Palestinian death toll soared to 271 on July...