ANKARA
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a "miserable struggle" to cover up the crimes he committed during last summer's Israeli air and land offensives on the Gaza Strip by condemning Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to Erdogan's spokesman.
"The Israeli prime minister's call for the condemnation of our president's speech on Jan. 14 and attempting to cover up the crimes he committed in Gaza is a shameful and hypocritical situation for humanity," spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in a statement released on Thursday.
During Monday's joint press conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ankara, Erdogan commented on the Israeli premier's presence at the anti-terrorism rally in France by saying, "I find it very difficult to understand how he dared to go there after killing 2,500 people in Gaza through state terrorism."
In response, Netanyahu wrote on his Twitter account on Wednesday: "I’ve yet to hear any world leader condemn the comments by @RT_Erdogan who said Israel should not have been represented in the march in Paris."
At the press briefing with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Erdogan also stressed that the ramifications of last year's Israeli attacks on the Gazan enclave that claimed thousands of innocent Palestinian lives still linger as the destruction and massacres are etched into the world's memories.
Ibrahim Kalin said that the Israeli offensive of July-August 2014 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip left 2,205 Palestinians dead, of whom 1,483 were civilians, and over 11,000 others wounded.
"The attacks also left 110,000 Palestinians homeless as 20,000 houses were demolished. 14 journalists were also killed during the offensives. Israel also bombed UN offices, schools and hospitals," he said.
Kalin also said that the Israeli government attacked the Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla Mavi Marmara in international waters in 2011 and killed 10 Turkish citizens. "This massacre was condemned by the whole world in the harshest possible manner."
"While such a humanitarian tragedy is apparent, that the Israeli prime minister attended this rally and abused it for his own political aims is both disrespectful to the memory of the civilians killed in Gaza and a desire to make a miserable political show in the face of the international community," he added.
The spokesperson stressed that it is unacceptable for the Israeli prime minister to adopt a simplistic and Islamophobic attitude and use the term "Islamic terrorism" in an attempt to openly try to link the Paris attacks with Islam.
This is especially the case when other prominent world leaders, especially French President Francois Hollande, cautiously avoid any attribution to Islam in their remarks.
Kalin also described Netanyahu's attempt to use the Paris attack and Sunday's unity march for his own political ends as "a deplorable act that must be condemned by all."
"The Israeli government should stop its aggressive and racist policies and learn to respect to rights of the Palestinians instead of attacking others by hiding behind anti-Semitism," he said.
