Turkey's president raises tensions with criticism of Israel

Israeli foreign ministry responds to strong remarks about
treatment of Palestinians by condemning Turkish human
rights record

Kareem Shaheen in Istanbul
Tuesday 9 May 2017 15.06 BST

Tensions have resurfaced between Turkey and Israel, with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticising the “racist and discriminatory” treatment of Palestinians, and Israel responding by summoning the Turkish ambassador and condemning Ankara’s human rights record.

Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, denounced Israeli practices during an address in Istanbul on Monday night, describing the blockade of Gaza as having “no place in humanity”.

He urged Muslims to visit the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem as a means of supporting the Palestinian cause and called for the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. Erdoğan also condemned a Knesset (Israeli parliament) bill to muffle the azan, the Muslim call to prayer, in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem.

“If you have faith in your religion, why are you afraid of the azan?” he said. “We will not allow the azan to be stopped in al-Quds (the Arabic name for Jerusalem).”

The Israeli foreign ministry responded with an apparent reference to Ankara’s crackdown on dissidents after a coup attempt last July.

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