ANKARA (Dispatches) – Tensions have risen again between Turkey and the U.S. after the Biden administration condemned comments made by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the Zionist regime over its Gaza bombing carnage.
The U.S. State Department referenced comments made by the Turkish president in a televised speech on Monday, as the occupying regime’s operation in Gaza entered its second week.
“A former Israeli prime minister in the past told me that he had the highest pleasure in his life by killing Palestinians while he was a general,” Erdogan said.
“He told me that while I was visiting Israel as a PM. That’s part of their nature, they only get satisfaction by sucking blood.”
Even though Erdogan didn’t name the Zionist prime minister, he mentioned the same anecdote in a speech in 2018 where he said it was Ariel Sharon.
Erdogan in the same speech accused U.S. President Joe Biden of writing history “with your bloody hands” by supporting the Zionist regime’s campaign in the Gaza Strip.
Though the State Department did not specify which comments they specifically found problematic, they warned Erdogan against further encouraging unrest.
“We urge President Erdogan and other Turkish leaders to refrain from incendiary remarks, which could incite further violence. We call Turkey to join the United States in working to end the conflict,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Tuesday.
The Turkish government has spent the past few months trying to mend frayed relations with Washington and had reached out to other western allies after a year of bitter disputes.
However, Biden’s recognition of the Armenian ‘genocide’ last month and the U.S. administration’s lack of meaningful engagement with Ankara further undermined relations, triggering a public outcry in the country.
“It is unthinkable that our president would be silent to this barbarity as Israel is forcibly evicting civilians from their homes, massacring civilians, even children,” said Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin in a statement on Wednesday.