UPDATE - Turkey 'completely' rejects US statement on President Erdogan

UPDATES WITH MORE REMKARS BY FOREIGN MINISTRY

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday completely rejected the US Department of State's statement accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of anti-Semitism.

In a statement, the ministry called on the US administration to make efforts to stop Israel's incessant attacks on Palestinian civilians, instead of leveling false accusations on the Turkish leader.

The concept of anti-Semitism should not be used to cover up Israel's ethnic, religious and cultural cleansing policies, the statement noted.

Erdogan's comments were not targeting Jews, but the Israeli government, which has the blood of many innocent Palestinians on its hands, most of whom were children, women and youths, the ministry added.

The statement noted that Turkey has been the homeland for many Jews who fled from the Inquisition centuries ago and from the Holocaust during the Second World War.

It underlined that brave Turkish diplomats also helped rescue hundreds of Jews during the Holocaust and Jewish citizens in Turkey have been living for centuries in peace and tranquility, without any discrimination.

The ministry also recalled that anti-Semitism was repeatedly described as a crime against humanity by Erdogan.

The current policies followed by the US administration, which came to power campaigning for a law-based world order and the rule of international law, is in fact contradicting its core promises.

The ministry said lifting of the US veto in the UN Security Council on a motion against Israeli attacks will be the first step in this direction.

- State Department's statement

The US Department of State on Tuesday "condemned President Erdogan’s recent anti-Semitic comments regarding the Jewish people" in a statement.

Erdogan on Monday criticized Israel for attacks on civilians in Gaza and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. He also criticized the US arms sale to Israel.

Accusing Israel of being a "terrorist state" and violating Jerusalem, he said it was "ruthlessly" bombing civilians in Gaza.

Erdogan said that those supporting Israeli actions in Jerusalem and Gaza would go down in history as being complicit in the murder of children and crimes against humanity.

At least 221 Palestinians have been killed, including 63 children and 36 women, and 1,530 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since May 10, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assaults on worshippers in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.