Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday that Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s accusation of fascism against Israel was “absurd,” days before the German leader is due to host the Turkish president for talks in Berlin.
Israel “is a democracy” and “a country that is bound to human rights and international law and acts accordingly. Therefore, the accusations against Israel are absurd,” Scholz told a press conference.
He was responding to a question about Erdogan’s comment on Friday that Israel’s legitimacy was “being questioned due to its own fascism.”
Erdogan is due to hold talks with Scholz and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin.
But the visit, Erdogan’s first since 2020, is proving controversial over the Turkish leader’s accusations against Israel and his characterization of Hamas as “liberators” fighting for their land.
Erdogan has been an increasingly vocal critic of Israel’s war against Gaza-rulers Hamas, triggered after the gunmen’s deadly attack on October 7 that Israel said killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
The Turkish leader has accused Israel of committing war crimes as it heavily bombards Hamas-ruled Gaza, where the death toll has mounted past 11,000, according to the health authorities run by Hamas in the territory.
Source: Al Arabiya