Turkey would not remain silent if Israel attacks Lebanon or Gaza, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said during a visit to the Lebanon. “Does it [Israel] think it can enter Lebanon with the most modern aircraft and tanks to kill women and children, and destroy schools and hospitals, and then expect us to remain silent?" Erdogan said at a conference in Beirut. "Does it think it can use the most modern weapons, phosphorus munitions and cluster bombs to kill children in Gaza and then expect us to remain silent? We will not be silent and we will support justice by all means available to us."
Erdogan has said Turkey would not begin to restore normal diplomatic relations with Israel until Jerusalem apologizes for what he called its "savage attack" on the Gaza Flotilla in May 2010. During a visit to a Turkmen village near Beirut, Erdogan said: “We will go on to raise our voice against those massacring innocent people and children. We will call a killer a killer when needed.” Erdogan made the statements as he faced demonstrations by hundreds of Lebanese Armenians (see picture) highlighting Turkey’s role in the mass killing of Armenians during World War I, which Turkey until now has refused to recognize as ‘genocide’.
An Israeli official quoted by the ‘Jerusalem Post’ condemned Erdogan’s outburst against Israel, calling it “a particularly lame diversion from the issue that was brought to his door in Lebanon by Armenian demonstrators.” The official also said Israel took note that Erdogan, in his speech, “found not one single word to at least distance himself from killing of Israeli women and children.”
