30 October 2023; MEMO: Israel has recalled diplomats from Turkiye after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticised it of behaving like a “war criminal”, local Turkish media reports.
According to the report, Erdogan made the comments while addressing thousands of demonstrators at a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul.
The Israeli Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen, responded by ordering diplomats to return.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has “the most moral army in the world”.
Israel has expanded its strikes on the Gaza Strip, three weeks after Hamas launched its attack on southern Israel, killing more than 1,400 people and taking 229 people hostages.
READ: Turkiye’s Erdogan scraps Israel trip over ‘inhumane’ Gaza war
Since then, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 7,500 Palestinians have been killed as Israel carries out retaliatory strikes.
Addressing a crowd of several hundred thousand Palestinian supporters on Saturday, the Turkish President said, “the main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza is the West”.
“Israel has been openly committing war crimes for 22 days, but the Western leaders cannot even call on Israel for a ceasefire, let alone react to it,” he said.
