Turkey slams Netanyahu on remarks against Erdogan

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's presidential communications director lashed out Wednesday at remarks by Israel's prime minister targeting the Turkish leader.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results," Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter in response to Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu's previous remarks on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He was referring to a well-known quote from renowned scientist Albert Einstein, adding a video showing a spat between Erdogan and Israeli then-president Shimon Peres at a Davos Summit held in 2009.

Earlier on Wednesday, Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Netanyahu attacked Erdogan for "exposing the Israeli leader's racist remarks towards Arabs and Muslims".

"The apartheid state he leads occupies Palestinian lands, kills women, children, and imprisons Palestinians in their own land," Kalin said.

"Lies and pressure will not hide your crimes," he added.

On Tuesday, Kalin condemned Netanyahu's affirmation of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

"I strongly condemn this blatant racism and discrimination. 1.6 million Arabs/Muslims live in Israel. Will the Western governments react or keep silent under pressure again?" Kalin said on Twitter.

On March 12, Netanyahu said Israel is "a nation state not of all its citizens but only of the Jewish people".