Turkey recalled its ambassador in 2010 after Israeli commandos stormed an “aid” flotilla trying to break the blockade on Hamas-ruled Gaza, killing 10 Turkish activists.
It was an about-face for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has lambasted Israel at every turn for its treatment of the Palestinians. But facing ISIS and Kurdish terrorism at home, an attempted coup and plummeting ties with Russia, the Islamist Erdogan decided it was in his interest to restore full diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.
Still, an interview Erdogan gave to Israel’s Channel 2 television ruffled some feathers. After all, if you want to improve ties with the Jewish state, the last thing you do is compare Israeli acts of self-defense to Nazi atrocities during the Holocaust.
“I don’t agree with what Hitler did and I also don’t agree with what Israel did in Gaza,” Erdogan said. “When it’s a question of so many people dying, it’s inappropriate to ask who was the more barbarous.”
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