Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said that plans to “trap our region in instability” will fail and that “imperialist and Zionist bloodshed perpetrators” will not be able to achieve their goals.
“The strongest response to this 23-month-long genocide witnessed by all humanity has come again from Türkiye and its nation,” Erdogan said at the drawing ceremony for the placement of relatives of martyrs, veterans, and veterans' relatives into public institutions in Ankara.
“We governed for centuries on lands where those who challenge us came just two or three generations ago,” the Turkish president said, stressing, “We were the sword of justice, bringing order to the world.”
“We are neither guests nor occupiers in this region; we have been its hosts for a thousand years and will remain here until the end of time,” Erdogan added.
Erdogan hits back at Netanyahu
Erdogan’s comments are the latest response in a verbal spat with Netanyahu, which started with the Israeli president addressing Erdogan by name during a ceremony in the occupied West Bank alongside US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Monday.
During the ceremony, Netanyahu declared, “This is our city. Erdogan, it’s not yours. Jerusalem is ours forever, and it will never be divided again,” asserting that there would never be a Palestinian state.
Erdogan, the next day, doubled down by saying, “Netanyahu should never forget what my stance was 27 years ago,” and vowing that Türkiye “will not allow unauthorised hands to pollute Jerusalem.”
“I know the pain of those Hitler-minded individuals will never fade,” he said.
"Let them continue to throw tantrums. We, as Muslims, will not take a single step back from our rights over East Jerusalem.”
