Mr Erdogan accused US President Joe Biden of “writing history with bloody hands” due to arms sales to Israel.
WASHINGTON — The US government condemned on Tuesday statements made by Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling them anti-Semitic and reprehensible.
In an unusual statement by the State Department, spokesman Ned Price rebuked Mr Erdogan for his remarks.
“The United States strongly condemns President Erdogan’s recent anti-Semitic comments regarding the Jewish people and finds them reprehensible,” the statement said.
On Monday, Mr Erdogan accused US President Joe Biden of “writing history with bloody hands” due to arms sales to Israel.
In the same speech, Mr Erdogan criticised Austria for flying the flag of Israel last week and made reference to the Holocaust.
“The Austrian state seems to be trying to make Muslims pay the price for [its role] in the Holocaust,” he said.
The State Department called the remarks “incendiary”.
“We urge President Erdogan and other Turkish leaders to refrain from incendiary remarks, which could incite further violence.”
It also called on Ankara to help end the conflict.
Turkey is an open supporter of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Mr Erdogan hosted its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, last August.
The Biden administration has not yet reached out to Turkey to help end the fighting in Gaza, despite speaking with regional players such as Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, the UAE and Bahrain.
Relations have deteriorated between Turkey and Washington since Mr Biden came into office. Unlike his predecessor, Donald Trump, who enjoyed a close personal relationship with the Turkish leader, Mr Biden waited over three months before speaking to Mr Erdogan.
US recognition of the Armenian genocide, Turkish acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile defence system and Ankara’s record on human rights have deepened the rift between the two.
Palestinian UN ambassador challenges Biden administration
Meanwhile, the Palestinian ambassador at the UN is challenging the US administration to show results from its diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, reports AP.
Riyad Mansour said that the US administration of President Joe Biden had repeatedly blocked UN Security Council action on the grounds that it would interfere with its diplomatic efforts.
“If the Biden administration can exert all of their pressure to bring an end to the aggression against our people, nobody is going to stand in their way,” Mr Mansour said.
But he said no one had achieved a ceasefire, so the US claim that a council statement would interfere with truce efforts “does not hold water.”
Mr Mansour spoke on Tuesday as the Security Council again met behind closed doors at the request of China, Norway and Tunisia, who have been pressing for body to respond to the Gaza conflict.
But council diplomats said the US again insisted that a statement would not help diplomatic efforts, despite the 14 other members calling for council action.
“The United Nations as a whole must raise its voice” to achieve a ceasefire, said Algeria’s UN ambassador, Sofiane Mimouni, also current leader of the body’s Arab Group.
Mr Mimouni urged UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to personally engage with all world leaders, “to put an end to the repression that Palestinians are facing.”
c The National