By Marc Oliver Rühle
Barely back in his home country, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (69) is already cheerfully agitating against Israel – and Germany.
In his first speech after his visit to Berlin on Friday, the Turkish President called on Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (67) to the national student association in Istanbul to support the release of “almost 10,000 hostages” during his planned trip to Israel at the end of next week from the hands of the Israelis”.
▶︎ Explosive: Erdogan further accused the federal government of being part of a “crusader-imperialist structure”. “Unfortunately, I discovered that during my visit last night,” he rumbled.
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (69) and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65, SPD) at the press statement on Friday evening in Berlin Photo: REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen
“I saw that with the president and with the other one too.” The “other” is none other than Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD, 65). It couldn’t be more derogatory. According to Erdogan, both of them only talked about Hamas the entire time during the encounter.
Erdogan himself asked why people weren’t talking about the “13,000 children, women and elderly people” who were killed by Israel. In Berlin, he again described Israel as a terrorist state, he continued. The fact is: he is once again delivering the slogans that his audience wants to hear.
One thing is clear: If Erdogan’s plan was to seek rapprochement with Germany, his crusader statements will not exactly increase trust in him.
▶︎ He again described Israel as a “terrorist state” and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “finished”. And further: “Hopefully Israel will get rid of him, like all the Jews in the world will do,” he said in Istanbul on Saturday, according to a translation by Anadolu Agency.
Chancellor Scholz and Erdogan openly discussed their differences regarding the Gaza war at their meeting in Berlin, but avoided a scandal. While Erdogan condemned the Israeli warfare in the Gaza Strip with many deaths among the civilian population, Scholz emphasized Israel’s right to self-defense against the terrorist Hamas.
Back in Turkey, the Turkish president is showing his true face again.