Turkey dismisses as "
absolutely unacceptable
" accusations by Washington that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made "
anti-Semitic
"
remarks
in the wake of Israel's strikes in the Gaza Strip, the communications director of the Gaza Strip said on Wednesday. the Turkish Presidency, Fahrettin Altun.
Read also: Washington denounces the "anti-Semitic" remarks of Turkish President Erdogan
These new tensions could further aggravate relations between Turkey and the United States, both members of NATO.
“
The US statement about our President Erdogan's remarks on Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians is absolutely unacceptable,
” Fahrettin Altun tweeted.
On Tuesday, the US State Department strongly denounced Erdogan's remarks deemed "
anti-Semitic
" and called for avoiding "
inflammatory remarks that could incite even more violence
" in the Middle East.
"
The United States strongly condemns President Ergodan's recent anti-Semitic remarks against the Jewish people,
" State Department spokesman Ned Price wrote in a statement.
Recep Erdogan, from political Islam, set himself up as a defender of the Palestinian cause during his eighteen years in power as prime minister or president and accused Israel of "
terrorism
" against the Palestinians.
On Monday, he fiercely attacked the Israeli leaders for the strikes launched since May 10 in the Gaza Strip.
"
They are murderers, so much so that they kill children aged five or six
", he said, adding: "
it is only sucking the blood that satisfies them
".
"Lie"
Fahrettin Altun described
the accusations of anti-Semitism against Mr. Erdogan as
"
odious
". "
This is a cowardly statement to divert international attention from Israel's crimes against humanity,
" he said. “To
accuse our president of anti-Semitism is an illogical and false approach. It's a lie told against our president,
”Omer Celik, spokesperson for the AKP, the ruling Justice and Development Party (Islamo-conservative), had previously tweeted.
After a year of heated differences, Erdogan has tried in recent months to improve relations with Washington and reach out to other Western allies. But on Monday he also criticized US President Joe Biden for his diplomatic support for Israel, accusing him of having "
bloody hands
". Recep Erdogan has launched a diplomatic campaign to impose sanctions on Israel whose air offensive on the Gaza Strip has killed at least 219 people since May 10.