Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar condemned Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's latest remarks against Israel, calling them 'sickening incitement to genocide' in a statement Friday. The rebuke follows Sa'ar's earlier accusation that Fidan's rhetoric constituted an 'unbearable burden' on humanity, first reported Thursday evening.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar escalated his confrontation with Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Friday, calling Fidan's latest remarks "sickening incitement to genocide." The statement, reported by the Abu Ali Express channel, marks a further intensification of Sa'ar's accusations first leveled on Thursday evening.
On Thursday at 21:48 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported that Fidan said in a CNN Turk interview that Israelis have become "a burden humanity can no longer bear." Within the same hour, Sa'ar issued a strong condemnation, then explicitly accused Fidan of incitement to genocide, and later said he was "sickened" by the remarks and called on NATO allies to publicly reject them. The coverage evolved from an initial report by N12 to multiple outlets, including Abu Ali Express, which cited Sa'ar's Friday statement.
The exchange is part of a broader deterioration in Israeli-Turkish relations, against the backdrop of Turkey's condemnation of Israel's military posture in Gaza and southern Syria, and Israel's recent cabinet recognition of the Armenian Genocide — a move Sa'ar said was "not retaliatory." Sa'ar has also called on Turkey's NATO allies to reject Fidan's rhetoric, though no such condemnation has been reported from the alliance.
The precise content of Fidan's remarks that triggered Friday's statement was not detailed in available sources. It remains unclear whether Fidan made new comments or whether Sa'ar's characterization reflects a new interpretation of earlier remarks.
4 developments
- DevelopingTurkey's Fidan accuses Israel of sabotaging Gaza ceasefire, threatening world
- DevelopingFM Sa'ar: Armenian Genocide recognition not retaliation, but truth
- DevelopingAnalysis: Turkish FM Fidan's antisemitic tirade underscores Ankara as Israel's next strategic threat
- DevelopingTurkish FM Fidan: Israel is seeking a new enemy; we have no problem with confrontation
Source and signal
- Internal intake