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Erdogan in tense talks in Germany as divisions over Gaza war deepen | NATO News<\/p>\n
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on a brief and tense visit to Germany amid deep differences between the two NATO allies over the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Erdogan has called Israel a \u201cterror state\u201d and pointed to its Western allies, including Germany, for supporting the military\u2019s \u201cmassacres\u201d in Gaza.<\/p>\n
On Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz underlined Israel\u2019s right to defend itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur solidarity with Israel is not up for discussion,\u201d he said at a joint news conference with Erdogan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t owe anything to Israel, so we can speak freely,\u201d Erdogan said, referring to Germany\u2019s responsibilities in the Holocaust and how Berlin can influence its relationship with Israel. \u201cIf we were in debt, we could not talk so freely. But those who are in debt cannot talk freely,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Turkish leader also lashed out at Israel over its relentless air and ground offensive in Gaza, saying that attacks on children and hospitals had no place in the Jewish holy book.<\/p>\n
\u201cShooting hospitals or killing children does not exist in the Torah, you can\u2019t do it,\u201d Erdogan told reporters.<\/p>\n
Ismail Thawabta, the director general of the government media office in Gaza, told reporters on Friday that the total number of Palestinians killed since the war broke out on October 7 has exceeded 12,000, including 5,000 children.<\/p>\n
Frosty start<\/strong><\/p>\n This was Erdogan\u2019s first visit to Germany since 2020, when he attended a conference on Libya in Berlin.<\/p>\n Before the visit, the Turkish leader stepped up his condemnation of the Israeli assault on the besieged Gaza Strip, saying it had \u201cunlimited support\u201d from the West.<\/p>\n He had previously called for Israeli leaders to be tried for war crimes at the International Court of Justice in The Hague and repeated his view \u2013 and Turkey\u2019s longstanding position \u2013 that Hamas is not a \u201cterrorist organisation\u201d but a political party that won the last Palestinian legislative elections held in 2006.<\/p>\n