President Erdogan Defends Palestine, The United States Condemns Anti-Semites

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru/The Presidential Press and Information Office)

JAKARTA - The United States has denounced Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's remarks against Jews as anti-semitic in relation to the Palestinian-Israeli clashes over the past week.

This statement was issued by US State Department Spokesman Ned Price. According to him, anti-semitic language has no place anywhere.

"We urge President Erdogan and other Turkish leaders to refrain from inflammatory comments, which could provoke further violence," Price said in a statement.

However, Price did not specify which Erdogan's remarks the United States considered anti-Semitic. The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for clarification.

President Erdogan, an outspoken defender of Palestine, criticized Israel for carrying out airstrikes on Gaza. He called Israel a "state of terror" after Israeli police fired rubber bullets at Palestinians throwing stones in Jerusalem.

In addition, President Erdogan criticized Western powers for their lack of response to violence between Israel and Palestine, citing Austria and the United States, which he said wrote history with bloody hands.

President Erdogan's remarks related to criticism of United States President Joe Biden's agreement to sell weapons to Israel.

"You are writing history with bloody hands in this incident which was a disproportionately serious attack on Gaza, which resulted in the martyrdom of hundreds of thousands of people. You forced me to say this," Erdogan said.

It is known that President Biden's administration on Monday this week approved a potential sale of precision guided weapons to Israel worth US$ 735 million.

As for Austria, President Erdogan condemned the raising of the Israeli flag over the federal chancellor in Vienna on Friday last week.

"The Austrian state is trying to get Muslims to pay the price for Jews who are targets of genocide," said President Erdogan.

Meanwhile, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who is said to be pro-Israel, called the move a sign of solidarity amid the clashes.