TURKEY'S ERDOGAN CALLS ISRAEL A 'CHILD-MURDERER' STATE
ISRAEL A 'CHILD-MURDERER' STATE
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Israel a "terrorist" and
"child-murderer state" in an address Sunday as he criticized
President Donald Trump over his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
"Jerusalem
is the apple of our eye. We will not abandon it to the child-murderer state. We
will not abandon it to an occupier state," Erdogan said in an address in
the Turkish city of Sivas.
"We
will continue our struggle within law and democracy. In Istanbul we will unite
Islamic countries, leaders and heads of states. Our road map will show that it
will not be easy for them to realize their plans," Erdogan said. He also
said Trump's Jerusalem announcement was "null and void."
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Erdogan on Sunday, saying:
"I'm not used to receiving lectures about morality from a leader who bombs
Kurdish villagers in his native turkey, who jails journalists, who helps Iran
go around international sanctions, and who helps terrorists, including in Gaza,
kill innocent people. That is not the man who is going to lecture us."
Speaking
from Paris, where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron, Netanyahu said
that Jerusalem has "always been our capital, and Jerusalem has never been
the capital of any other people. I think the sooner the Palestinians come to
grips with this reality, the sooner we'll move towards peace."
Israel
launched airstrikes early Saturday against what it said were Hamas targets in
Gaza, after several rockets were fired out of Gaza towards Israel. Two
Palestinians were killed in those airstrikes, the Palestinian Health Ministry
said.
More than
300 people were injured Friday across the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem, 50 of
whom needed hospital treatment, during protests against Trump's decision,
according to the Palestinian Authority's Health Ministry.
Riots outside US Embassy in Beirut
In Beirut,
Lebanese security forces clashed with protesters near the US Embassy on Sunday.
Violence erupted during a demonstration against Trump's announcement on
Jerusalem.
Hundreds of
protesters and dozens of riot police gathered in front of the entrance leading
to the heavily fortified building. Some youth in the crowd threw stones toward
the gate leading to the embassy.
Despite
calls to keep the demonstration peaceful, clashes broke out as crowds threw
plastic water bottles, stones and sticks at the police.
Lebanese
security forces on the scene responded with tear gas and water cannons, as
demonstrators lit a large garbage can and car tires on fire. One American flag
was burned.
At least
five protesters affected by tear gas were carried away from the scene.
Protesters
told CNN they condemned Trump's steps on Jerusalem's status, and said they were
angry at the "impotence" of Arab leaders in the wake of the controversial
decision.
"Sheep
who are the Arab leaders betrayed Jerusalem years ago," Mustafa, a Syrian
demonstrator, told .
The
demonstration outside the embassy comes as Lebanese group Hezbollah plans to
hold a demonstration Monday in the Beirut suburb to condemn Trump's decision.
Trump's
move Wednesday to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and commit to
moving the US Embassy to the holy city has prompted international condemnation
and sparked protests worldwide, from Indonesia and Malaysia, to Iraq, Jordan,
Turkey and Egypt.
Pope calls for 'wisdom and prudence'
Pope
Francis on Sunday issued an appeal for "wisdom and prudence" in the
wake of clashes over Trump's Jerusalem decision.
The Pope
also called upon leaders to "commit themselves to avert a new spiral of
violence" adding that they should encourage "peace, justice and
security" for people in the region, which he described as a "battered
land."
Palestinian
Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki called Trump's decision "illegal
and illegitimate and null and void legally and politically," saying there
would be no formal communication with US officials.
Before the
protests broke out in Lebanon, the Arab League condemned Trump's decision as
well, describing it as a "dangerous" development. The foreign
ministers of the 22-member states of the Arab League met for an emergency
meeting at their headquarters in Cairo on Saturday.
The US
policy change on Jerusalem puts it "on the side of occupation" and
"exempts it from a mediation role in the peace process," the Arab
League said in a statement.
It warned
that attempts to change the legal status of Jerusalem or to "change the
Arab identity of the city" are "provocations to the feelings of
Muslims and Christians across the Muslim and Arab world" and violates
international law.
News
Source: CNN website
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