News - Middle East: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions in the war-torn Gaza Strip are “no different” than those of Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler.

In a speech delivered at a science awards ceremony in the capital Ankara on Wednesday, Erdogan likened Israel's brutal attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip for well over the past two months to the treatment of Jewish people by the Nazis during the reign of Hitler.
“How do you (Netanyahu) differ from Hitler? These (actions) will make us look for Hitler as well. Is there anything Netanyahu does that is less than Hitler? No,” he said.
“They talk about Hitler in a strange way, what is the difference between them and Hitler? They will make us miss Hitler even more,” Erdogan added.
The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
Since the start of the US-backed offensive, the Israeli regime has killed at least 21,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 55,000 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
The Turkish president also welcomed those scholars who face pressure to defend human dignity in the Palestinian enclave, stressing that the doors of Turkish universities are open to them.
“We realized that the institutions that talk big and spend big budgets are completely hollow when it comes to Israel and its atrocities,” Erdogan said, adding, “From the UN Security Council to press organizations, from the EU to journalist groups, all institutions that serve as apostles of democracy have failed (over the Israeli attacks on Gaza).”
Previously, he strongly condemned Israel's military operation in Gaza as genocide, labeling Israel as a “terrorist” entity.
Back in October, Israel recalled its diplomats from Turkey after Erdogan accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza. Turkey later also recalled its ambassador from Israel.