Turkey hits back at Netanyahu’s ‘groundless rant’ on Cyprus, Syria

Turkey’s presidential communications directorate has described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments on its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s policies in Cyprus and Syria as a “groundless rant” which was “devoid of historical facts and political seriousness”. “This cheap political ploy by Netanyahu and his cronies, which is also aimed at gaining an advantage for himself in the elections, holds no sway whatsoever, neither in his own community, nor in our region, nor in the international community, nor among us,” it said, with Israel set to hold legislative elections in October. It added that the statements came “from a government awaiting accountability before international justice mechanisms on charges of genocide”, and as such, “serve as a stark, instructive testament to just how much Turkey’s world and our president’s unwavering stance in the face of truth unsettle certain parties”. “As has become increasingly evident in recent days, Israel’s election campaign has fallen under the way of an irresponsible security-focused populism and the politics of threat which is growing ever harsher,” it said. On this front, it said that “the Netanyahu administration’s effort to depict Turkey as a new figure of threat is part and parcel of this cheap politics”. “This politics of threat and escalation of tensions, pursued for the sake of domestic political expediency, carries serious risks, not only for Israeli society, but also for regional and global peace and stability,” it said. It added that “Turkey, just as it did yesterday, stands today on the side of the oppressed against the oppressor, come what may”. “It will steadfastly continue to defend peace, justice, and stability in our region,” it said. The comment comes after Netanyahu’s office had said on Friday night that “Erdogan is an antisemitic dictator who has massacred Kurds, harbours Hamas terrorists, occupies half of Cyprus, and jails record numbers of journalists and politicians who oppress him”. “He now seeks to extend his aggression against Israel into Syria. Israel will not tolerate it. Erdogan’s pathetic attempt to intimidate the leaders and soldiers of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, will go nowhere,” it added. Netanyahu’s statement came at the end of a day on which Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek had announced that he had requested that an Interpol red notice – the most severe type of international arrest warrant – be put out in the names of Netanyahu and an Israeli soldier by the name of Afek Moskovitch. “In line with the arrest warrants issued on July 14 … for Benjamin Netanyahu on the charge of genocide, a request has been made to our interior ministry for the issuance of a red notice at the international level, and that the relevant documents have been forwarded to our foreign ministry,” he said. Netanyahu and Moskovitch are both currently being tried in absentia at Istanbul’s 11th high criminal court on charges of crimes against humanity, genocide, torture, and a list of other alleged offences, with charges having been filed following Israel’s interception of Gaza Sumud flotilla humanitarian aid boats off the coast of Cyprus in May. Around 50 boats had set sail from the Turkish port of Marmaris. They were then boarded by members of the Israel Defence Forces around 90 nautical miles off the island’s coast. Syria’s Abu Duhur airbase after being hit by Israeli airstrikes [Photo: Reuters] The latest back-and-forth between Turkey and Israel comes after Israel had launched airstrikes on the Abu Duhur airbase in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, near its border with Turkey, saying that it wished to prevent Turkey from stationing troops at it. Netanyahu said at the time that Syria was “on the verge of breaching” an agreed upon status quo regarding the stationing of troops in the country, and that his government had “repeatedly warned Syria” not to allow Turkey to station more troops in the country. “Syria chose to ignore these warnings,” he said, saying that it was this which prompted the airstrikes. Turkey denied this, with its presidential communications directorate saying that Netanyahu’s statements “lack seriousness” and “aim to legitimise Israel’s unlawful airstrikes”. “The accusations raised stem from Netanyahu’s intent to continue his expansionist and destabilising policies in the region ahead of elections in Israel,” he said. Likewise, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani told American news website Axios that “there was no intention to establish a Turkish base there, nor to establish a permanent Turkish military presence or deploy Turkish forces at the site”. He said that operations at the base were “limited to rehabilitating the airfield and its facilities that were damaged during the war”, so as to be utilised in the future by Syria’s air force. “There was no Turkish military buildup at the base in any sense that would justify such an interpretation. The base was, in fact, largely empty. It had not yet been fully rehabilitated or become fully operational, and the work there was still in the rehabilitation stage,” he said. As such, he added, “linking the strike to a Turkish military presence at the base is not supported by the situation on the ground as it stood at the time”. Axios also asked United States President Donald Trump about the airstrike. He said, “I can’t talk about it”.