Erdogan says Israel will be stopped ‘sooner or later’

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday condemned Israel’s ground operation in Lebanon and urged the United Nations and other international organizations to stop Israel without “wasting any more time.”

“Whatever it does, Israel will be stopped sooner or later,” Erdogan told the Turkish parliament at the opening of the legislative year.

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“All state and international organizations, especially the UN, must stop Israel without wasting any more time,” he added.

The Israeli army said it launched a ground offensive in Lebanon and that its forces engaged in clashes Tuesday, escalating the conflict after a week of intense air strikes that killed hundreds.

Erdogan said “the terror and genocide” Israel has carried out in Gaza has reached Lebanon and warned if not stopped, the Israeli leadership would set its sights on Turkey.

“I openly say that the Israeli leadership, acting with the delirium of the promised land and with a purely religious fanaticism, will set its sights on our homeland after Palestine and Lebanon,” Erdogan said, again comparing Prime Minister Netanyahu to Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler.

“Just as Hitler, who saw himself in a giant mirror, was stopped, Netanyahu will be stopped in the same way,” he said.

Earlier, Turkey's foreign ministry had issued a statement condemning Israel's ground offensive in Lebanon and calling on Israel to withdraw its troops.

“This attack must end as soon as possible and Israeli soldiers must withdraw from Lebanese territory,” the statement read.

With AFP

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