Paris attacks spark war of words between Turkey, Israel
January 15, 2015
Before heading to Brussels on Thursday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu added to a war of words between Turkish and Israeli politicians. The reaction came a day after Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liebermann had called President Recep Tayyip Erdogan an "anti-semitic bully." The Turkish head of state had angered Liebermann when he criticized Netanyahu's attendance at the solidarity march in Paris in honor of the victims of last week's terrorist attacks.
"Just as the massacre in Paris committed by terrorists is a crime against humanity, Netanyahu, as the head of the government that kills children playing on the beach with the bombardment of Gaza, destroys a thousand homes," Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Ankara.
Davutoglu said that Netanyahu's "crimes against humanity" included the Israeli assault on the Turkish-flagged ship Mavi Marmara in 2010, the largest vessel in an aid flotilla for the besieged Gaza Strip, and last year's air raids on Gaza.
These comments contributed to a new row in the increasingly difficult relationship between Turkey and Israel. The two countries were once allies, but their relations deteriorated under the rule of former Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is currently serving as president.
Davutoglu was scheduled to meet with EU President Donald Tusk in Brussels later on Thursday.
'Freedom of press does not mean freedom to insult'
Turkish leaders condemned the attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Nevertheless, Davutoglu also criticized the secular Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet for publishing excerpts of the latest edition of the magazine, whose cover showed a caricature of the prophet Muhammad weeping.
"Press freedom does not mean the freedom to insult," he told reporters on Thursday. "In this country we do not allow insults of the Holy Prophet", he added at a press conference, according to Anadolu news agency.
The comments came a day after a Turkish court banned websites from showing the controversial cover of the first issue of Charlie Hebdo after the terrorist attacks on the satirical newspaper's offices.
das/kms (Reuters,AFP/dpa)