Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan turned his Eid al-Fitr prayer into a message about the situation in the Middle East. The region is boiling, the Turkish leader said, describing the situation as very critical. Erdogan also took direct aim at Israel in his speech.
"Israel has killed thousands of people and, God willing, it will pay for this. I pray that God's will will protect us and free us as soon as possible from Zionist destruction ," Erdogan said.
Erdogan also criticized the closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, saying that Iran's war was merely used as a pretext for this. He also pointed the finger of blame at illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and other occupied Palestinian territories.
Since March 2, he added, Israel has killed 1,000 people in Lebanon and displaced over 1 million. Erdogan's message came at a time when Turkey has repeatedly condemned what it calls Israeli crimes in Gaza and Lebanon in recent months, while insisting on an immediate end to the war and the punishment of those responsible.
