Turkey denounces Israel’s ‘political’ recognition of Armenia genocide

ISTANBUL: Turkey on Sunday lashed out at Israel after it recognised massacres of Armenians during World War I as genocide, branding it as a “political” decision to cover its own crimes.

“The Israeli government, which has systematically persecuted the Palestinian people before the eyes of the entire world and is being tried at the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide against the people of Gaza, is seeking to cover up its own crimes through the political decision it has adopted regarding the events of 1915,” said a foreign ministry statement.

Relations between Israel and Turkey have sharply deteriorated since the war in Gaza erupted after Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas’s attacks on Israel in October 2023.

President recep Tayyip Erdogan, a strong advocate of the Palestinian cause, has often criticised Israeli “terrorism” in Gaza.

“Turkey will continue to work resolutely to bring an end to Israel’s expansionist and destabilising policies in the region,” the foreign ministry statement said.