Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday accused the members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of wanting to provoke a regional war to stay in power.
Erdoğan who is calling for the government to be tried in international courts, stated that the terror and genocide Israel has carried out in Gaza has reached Lebanon.
“All state and international organisations, especially the UN, must stop Israel without wasting any more time,” he said.
The Israeli army said that it launched a ground offensive in Lebanon and that its forces engaged in clashes Tuesday, escalating the conflict after a week of intense air strikes that killed hundreds.
Erdogan said “the terror and genocide” Israel had carried out in Gaza had reached Lebanon and warned if not stopped, the Israeli leadership would set its sights on Turkey.
“I openly say that the Israeli leadership, acting with the delirium of the promised land and with a purely religious fanaticism, will set its sights on our homeland after Palestine and Lebanon,” Erdogan said, again comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler.
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“Just as Hitler, who saw himself in a giant mirror, was stopped, Netanyahu will be stopped in the same way,” he said.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said it had drawn up contingency plans to evacuate its citizens from Lebanon because “the security situation is likely to deteriorate”.
“In coordination with relevant institutions, alternative plans have been prepared for the evacuation of our citizens by sea or air from Lebanon,” the ministry said.
Turkey is estimated to have 14,000 citizens registered with its consulate in Lebanon.
The ministry also said guidelines for the evacuation of third countries’ citizens via Turkey have also been determined, adding that necessary preparations were underway in cooperation with nearly 20 countries that have requested support.#Turkish
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