Turkey’s Erdogan: ‘No difference between the actions of Netanyahu and Hitler’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions over Gaza are “no different” from those of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, the official Anadolu Agency reports.

It is not the first time Erdogan has compared Israel to Nazi Germany, and in July 2014, the Turkish president accused Israel of “keeping Hitler’s spirit alive” during a war with Gaza.

Erdogan has massively stepped up his criticism of Israel during the current war. He has also asserted that Hamas is not a terrorist organization.

Israel recalled its diplomats from Turkey in October after Erdogan accused Israel of committing war crimes. Turkey later also recalled its ambassador from Israel.

Israel was a long-time regional ally of Turkey before Erdogan came to power, but ties imploded after a 2010 Israeli commando raid on the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara ship, part of a blockade-busting flotilla, that left dead 10 Turkish activists who attacked IDF soldiers aboard the ship.

Relations between the two nations have been up and down since then.

In late September, Erdogan met with Netanyahu in New York for their first known sit-down and the two enthusiastically discussed avenues of cooperation. At the same time, Turkey maintains deep ties with Hamas, the terror group that carried out the devastating October 7 assault in which some 1,200 people were massacred in southern Israel and around 240 kidnapped to Gaza and held hostage.