April 2, 2018 - 13:24 AMT
Israeli minister calls Erdogan ‘anti-Semite,’ talks Armenian Genocide

Israel’s public security minister Gilad Erdan slammed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, April 2, calling him ''an anti-Semite", at the same time calling for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, The Jerusalem Post reports.

“The anti-Semite Erdogan continues to support Hamas [to] act in Jerusalem," said Erdan.

The minister also expressed regret about voting in favor of the 2016 rapprochement agreement between Israel and Turkey, which normalized relations between the two countries following the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla incident.

Speaking on Army Radio, Erdan said that "it's possible Israel should have acted against Turkey in the international arena and recognized the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire."

“We must stand up to the hostility and anti-Semitism of Erdogan. A strange thing is taking place here when a country like Turkey, which butchers the Kurds [and] occupies north Cyprus is accepted in the West as a legitimate state."

Erdan further said that he believes Israel should ''present the values held by the Turks around the world, including recognition of the slaughter of the Armenians."

While Israel has a fair-sized Armenian community, especially in Jerusalem, the Jewish state has not as of yet recognized the 1915-1917 massacres and deportations of Armenian-Ottoman citizens as Genocide.

Photo. Tomer Neuberg/Flash90