Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed US President Joe Biden after his administration approved a potential arms deal with Israel on Monday.
Referencing the bloody conflict between Israel and Palestine that has been raging for over a week, Erdogan accused the US of “writing history with bloody hands” by approving the $735 million sale of precision-guided weapons to Israel.
Israel conducted dozens of air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Monday, after Palestinian militants fired barrages of rockets at southern Israeli cities, particularly Tel Aviv.
The pre-dawn raids on Gaza were some of the heaviest seen since the fighting began a week ago.
Israel said it hit facilities belonging to the militant group Hamas and several commanders’ homes, but main roads and power lines were also damaged.
The overall death toll in the territory now stands at 198, including 58 children and 34 women, with 1,230 injured, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Israel says more than 130 militants are among the dead — but Hamas has not acknowledged this.
At least 10 people have died in Israel, including two children.
Many note Turkey’s history after Erdogan condemns Biden over Israel
Many have noted that Turkey’s history, particularly during the Ottoman period, was full of bloodshed, ethnic cleansing, and genocide of Christians in the empire, specifically Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks.
They argue that Erdogan’s criticism of Biden over Israel, while his own country denies its history, is hypocritical.
The outspoken son of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Yair, expressed his outrage at Turkey’s support of Hamas by saying that the country is founded on the Genocide of Greek Christians.
Turkey is founded upon a genocide of Greek Christians! pic.twitter.com/Iul6ayQqnQ
— Yair Netanyahu 🇮🇱 (@YairNetanyahu) May 13, 2021
He uploaded a graph on Twitter which depicts the composition of Muslims and Christians within today’s Turkey over the centuries.
In another tweet directed towards Turkish bots on the internet, he said “you are not native to Anatolia, you came from Central Asia and did a genocide to the local Greek Christian population.
“Istanbul is actually Constantinople and you illegally occupied it,” he said.
“You also did a genocide to the Armenians,” Yair Netanyahu continued, before pointing out that “Turkey occupies northern Cyprus and Syria, as well as Kurdistan,” he added.
This is not the first time that Yair Netanyahu has has used strong language in social media against Turkey.
The world calls for a ceasfire between Israel and Palestine
International calls for a ceasefire in the ugly confrontation have continued to mount.
Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said on Monday that his country was “going to great lengths to reach a ceasefire… and hope still exists.”
The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on Sunday, and Secretary-General António Guterres warned that further fighting had “the potential to unleash an uncontainable security and humanitarian crisis.”
He pleaded for an immediate end to what he called the “utterly appalling” violence.
Greece to begin mediation in Gaza
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories on Tuesday, a foreign ministry announcement said on Monday.
Dendias will hold meetings with Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, with his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi and with his Palestinian counterpart Riyad al Maliki.
Dendias will also take part in the urgent teleconference of EU Foreign Ministers called by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell about the developments in the region.
Greece, as a pillar of stability and champion of promoting security and prosperity in the wider region, is actively involved in the diplomatic developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, diplomatic sources said on Monday.
In this context, they reported that Foreign Minister Dendias will be holding a series of meetings with his counterparts in the region and will be the first EU member-state Foreign Minister to visit Israel and the Palestinian Territories since the start of the recent crisis.
Finally, they underlined that the meeting with the Patriarch of Jerusalem indicates Greece’s justifiable interest in the protection of the Holy Pilgrimages and preservation of their status.
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