Khaberni - On Sunday, Turkey condemned Israel's recognition of the massacres experienced by the Armenians during World War I as genocide, considering the decision as "political" aimed at covering up the "crimes" of the State of Israel.
A statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry stated that "the Israeli government, which systematically oppresses the Palestinian people before the eyes of the entire world, and is being prosecuted at the International Court of Justice for committing genocide against the people of Gaza, seeks to cover its crimes through the political decision regarding the events of 1915."
The relations between Israel and Turkey sharply deteriorated after the war that erupted in Gaza, ignited by an unprecedented attack by Hamas on the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in October 2023.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is among the defenders of the Palestinian cause and has repeatedly criticized what he described as Israel's "terrorism" in Gaza.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry statement added, "Turkey continues to work resolutely to put an end to Israel's expansionist and destabilizing policies in the region."
Previous Israeli governments avoided officially recognizing the Armenian genocide, in an attempt to maintain relations with Turkey, which was among Israel’s closest strategic partners in the region.
The Armenians seek to push the international community to recognize the genocide in which up to 1.5 million people were killed between 1915 and 1916, when the Ottoman authorities suppressed the Christian Armenian minority, accusing them of treason and siding with Russia.
Turkey, which emerged after the dissolution of the empire in 1920, acknowledges the occurrence of massacres but rejects describing them as genocide, considering what happened to be in the context of a civil war in Anatolia accompanied by famine, and led to the deaths of between 300,000 and 500,000 Armenians and a similar number of Turks.
