Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Erdogan says Netanyahu solely to blame for provoking ‘regional conflict’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a joint press conference with the Ukrainian president at the Dolmabahce Presidential office in Istanbul on March 8, 2024. (Ozan Kose/AFP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proclaims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli leadership are solely responsible for the recent escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
“Israel is trying to provoke a regional conflict, and its attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus was the last drop,” he tells a press conference in Ankara after a cabinet meeting.
He adds that new regional conflicts were possible as long as the “cruelty and genocide” in Gaza continue, and calls on all parties to act with common sense. He also slams the West for condemning Iran’s attack, but not Israel’s purported strike on an Iranian-linked consular building.
