UPDATE – Turkish president slams 'tyrant' Israeli premier

UPDATES WITH NEW REMARKS FROM RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN</p> <p>By Aybuke Inal and Baris Gundogan<br> </p> <p>ANKARA – Turkey’s president said the Israeli premier was a &quot;tyrant massacring Palestinian children&quot; on Wednesday.<br> </p> <p>Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was in Ankara to attend a mass opening ceremony, slammed Benjamin Netanyahu for his remarks on Tuesday.</p> <p>Erdogan also criticized Israel over its assault on the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, saying the Turkish nation would raise its voice for any attack against the mosque.</p> <p>The Turkish president said Turkey will stand against every Israeli attack targeting Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Turkish people would not be silent, even if the rest of the world refused to speak.</p> <p>He said Turkey would continue its struggle for Jerusalem until the city is administrated in a way that is appropriate with its importance to the Islamic world.</p> <p>In addition, Erdogan warned Israel that Turkey would call it to account for its attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in front of the international community.</p> <p>Tensions have mounted in Jerusalem since February, when Israeli police briefly sealed the Al-Aqsa compound’s Al-Rahma Gate, located adjacent to the eastern wall of the Old City, sparking Palestinian demonstrations.<br> </p> <p>In the weeks since, Israeli authorities have banned scores of Palestinians — including religious officials — from entering the compound, which for Muslims represents the world’s third holiest site.<br> </p> <p>Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.</p> <p>Speaking at 5th International Benevolence Awards ceremony at Bestepe Congress Center on Wednesday evening, Erdogan said: “If there is a tyrant in the world, it is you,&quot; referring to Netanyahu.</p> <p>&quot;Are not you the one who keeps thousands of children, women and old people in jail because of election in Israel? Aren't you the one who tyrannizes them?&quot; the Turkish president said.</p> <p>He slammed the European leaders, who attended an EU-Arab summit in Egypt just after a mass execution of young men by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.</p> <p>&quot;How can you respond to Sisi's invitation while the execution is forbidden in the EU?&quot; Erdogan questioned.</p> <p>The two-day EU-Arab summit in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh last month saw heavy attendance by European officials despite Egypt’s execution of nine young men over the 2015 assassination of Hisham Barakat, Egypt's prosecutor-general.</p> <p>Egypt has remained beset by violence and turmoil since the army deposed Mohamed Morsi, the country's first freely elected president, in a 2013 coup.</p> <p>Earlier, a senior aide to the Turkish president also lashed out at remarks by Israel's prime minister targeting the Turkish leader.<br> </p> <p>Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Benjamin Netanyahu attacked President Recep Tayyip Erdogan &quot;for exposing the Israeli leader's racist remarks towards Arabs and Muslims&quot;.<br> </p> <p>Netanyahu had said on Tuesday that Israel is &quot;a nation state not of all its citizens but only of the Jewish people.&quot;<br> </p> <p><br></p> <p>* Writing by Can Erozden, Gozde Bayar and Jeyhun Aliyev

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