Presidency’s Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun said, “The U.S. statement about our President Erdoğan is a cowardly statement to divert the international attention away from Israel’s crimes against humanity.”
In a thread shared on his Twitter account, Director of Communications Altun reacted to the rootless statement of Ned Price, the Spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State, claiming that “President Erdoğan had anti-Semitic rhetoric”.
Emphasizing that the U.S. statement about our President Erdoğan’s remarks on the Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians was “unacceptable”, Altun noted the following:
“Those who do not have the courage and decency to condemn the killing of children have no moral standing to lecture anyone. The attempt to stain our courageous and outspoken leader’s struggle with a despicable charge of anti-Semitism is appalling. It is a cowardly statement to divert the international attention away from Israel’s crimes against humanity. Our President simply pointed out that the U.S. administration is complicit in Israel’s expanding occupation and the apartheid regime, and he will continue to do so. The U.S.’s continued military support and prevention of meaningful UNSC action are just a few examples. Whenever there is justified criticism, Israel and its allies cry ‘anti-Semitism’ to change the focus away from their occupation, violence, apartheid regime, and crimes against humanity. It is tiresome and stale, but it will not stop us from calling out the oppressors.”
“We categorically reject any attempt to misrepresent our President Erdoğan’s words”
Pointing out that the current U.S. administration’s silence, complicity, and even encouragement of Israeli actions under the guise of “self-defence” was simply indefensible, Altun stated the following:
“Trying to tie our leader Erdoğan to anti-Semitism is a clear symptom of a guilty conscience. We have and will continue to call on the international community and those with a clear conscience to stand up to Israel’s occupation and attacks on innocent civilians. Those who have no courage to call Israel out are the real inciters of violence. Enabling an apartheid regime in its repression of innocent people in occupied territories and then turning around and blaming others who call it out is the height of hypocrisy. We categorically reject any attempt to misrepresent our President Erdoğan’s words. Speaking about an Israeli Prime Minister who expressed his enjoyment of killing Muslims is not anti-Semitism. It is an unfortunate reality of some Israeli leaders’ mindset. Our President Erdoğan consistently called out anti-Semitism as well as Islamophobia and xenophobia while opposing Israel’s persecution of Palestinians. We will stand with Palestine. We will stand for justice. We will stand for humanity.”