ERDOGAN, WHO ON SUNDAY CALLED ISRAEL A 'CRUEL TERRORIST STATE', TURNS TO PUTIN FOR HELP

Turkish leader to Putin: Israel needs 'strong deterrent lesson'

 

By  Dean Shmuel Elmas  

 

Israel Hayom

May 12, 2021

 

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the international community should "give Israel a strong and deterrent lesson" against its conduct toward the Palestinians

That's according to the Turkish Presidential Communications Directorate, which said the two leaders talked by phone Wednesday about the escalating confrontation sparked by tension over Jerusalem.

The statement said Erdogan stressed the need for "the international community to give Israel a strong and deterrent lesson" and pressed for the United Nations Security Council to rapidly intervene with "determined and clear messages" to Israel.

The statement said Erdogan suggested to Putin that an international protection force to shield the Palestinians should be considered.

Erdogan's outreach to Putin comes after a series of apparently conciliatory steps toward Israel in recent months. In late March, Ankara informed Jerusalem that it was willing to exchange ambassadors.

In December 2020, a Turkish military official suggested cooperating with Israel on shared economic zones in the Mediterranean Sea, a move that would have come at the expense of Cyprus.

Meanwhile, thousands of people in Istanbul defied a nationwide coronavirus curfew late Tuesday to demonstrate against Israel's attacks. A large convoy of cars drove toward the Israeli Consulate, waving Turkish and Palestinian flags. An image of the Palestinian and Turkish flags was projected onto the Israeli building.