Turkey's Erdogan calls for Islamic alliance against Israel

8/9/2024 13:20

        Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday Islamic countries should form an alliance against what he called "the growing threat of expansionism" from Israel, drawing a rebuke from the Israeli foreign minister.
        
        He made the comment after describing what Palestinian and Turkish officials said was the killing by Israeli troops of a Turkish-American woman taking part in a protest on Friday against settlement expansion in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
        
        Erdogan said at an Islamic schools' association event near Istanbul, "The only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, Israeli banditry, and Israeli state terrorism is the alliance of Islamic countries."
        
        He said recent steps that Turkey has taken to improve ties with Egypt and Syria are aimed at "forming a line of solidarity against the growing threat of expansionism," which he said also threatened Lebanon and Syria.
        
        Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Erdogan's remark was "a dangerous lie and incitement," and that the Turkish leader has been working for years with Iran to undermine the region's moderate Arab regimes.