Netanyahu is a 'baby killer', says Turkish foreign minister Cavusoglu

Turkey's foreign minister has described Israel's leader as a 'baby killer' amid an ongoing war of words between Israeli and Turkish leaders.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

24 December, 2018

Mevlut Cavusoglu made the remarks during a press conference in Tunisia [Getty]

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu took another swipe at Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday, calling him a "baby killer" amid an ongoing exchange of barbs between Turkish and Israeli leaders that began on Saturday.

"Netanyahu and the PKK have something else in common - they are both baby killers," he added, referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party - a Kurdish separatist group outlawed by Ankara.

On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed Netanyahu as an "oppressor", following the Israeli leader's claim that he had massacred Kurds.

"You are an oppressor, cruel and at the head of state terror," Erdogan said of Netanyahu.

He also said Israel was "occupying Palestine" and had committed "sins, crimes against humanity, massacres".

Netanyahu hit back later on Sunday calling Erdogan an "anti-Semitic dictator" who is "obsessed with Israel".

Turkey and Israel have seen deteriorating relations in recent months, and follows a complete freezing of ties when Turkish activists were killed by Israeli soldiers on a flotilla travelling to Gaza in 2010.

Turkey has also been angered by a controversial law passed by the Israeli parliament in July which defined the country as the nation state of the Jewish people.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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