Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
ISTANBUL - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
described Israel on Monday as a "terrorist state" in carrying out its
bombardment of Gaza, underlining hostility for Ankara's former ally
since relations between them collapsed in 2010.
His comments came
after nearly a week of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli
air strikes on the Gaza Strip. An Israeli missile killed at least 11
Palestinian civilians including four children in Gaza on Sunday.
"Those
who associate Islam with terrorism close their eyes in the face of mass
killing of Muslims, turn their heads from the massacre of children in
Gaza," Erdogan told a conference of the Eurasian Islamic Council in
Istanbul.
"For this reason, I say that Israel is a terrorist state, and its acts are terrorist acts," he said.
Ties
between Israel and Turkey, once Israel's only Muslim ally, crumbled
after Israeli marines stormed an aid ship in 2010 to enforce a naval
blockade of the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip. Nine Turks were killed in
clashes with activists on board.
Ankara expelled Israel's
ambassador and froze military cooperation after a UN report into the
incident released in September last year largely exonerated the Jewish
state.
Earlier this month Turkey opened the trial in absentia of four former Israeli military commanders over the 2010 raid.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is to travel to Gaza on Tuesday with a group of foreign ministers from the Arab League.
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