Despite having repeatedly spoken out against Syrian President Bashar Assad, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday said that alleged Israeli air raids in Syria were “unacceptable.”
Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan – Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
The Israel Air Force struck storage facilities near Damascus housing Iranian Fateh-110 missiles destined for Hezbollah overnight Sunday for the second time in 48 hours – according to foreign media reports – sending flames and the sounds of blasts throughout the city.
“No excuse can justify this operation,” AFP quoted Erdogan as saying to members of his AKP faction.
The Arab League, Lebanon and Egypt condemned Israel’s reported attacks on Syria on Sunday. The League called for the UN Security Council to act to stop “Israel’s aggression,” according to AFP. It said the attacks were a “dangerous violation of an Arab state’s sovereignty.”
Following suit, the Syrian opposition condemned the air strikes. Israel had “taken advantage” of the conflict, the Syrian National Coalition said, AFP reported.
Erdogan had previously remained silent on the alleged Israeli air strikes, instead focusing his ire on Assad following two separate massacres by regime forces over the weekend.
““If God permits, we will see this criminal, this murderer, receive his judgment in this world, and we will be grateful to [God] for it,” Turkish daily Hurriyet quoted Erdogan as saying Sunday.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu taunted Damascus for not responding to the reported attacks, saying Sunday, “Why doesn’t it [Syria] throw even a pebble [at Israel]?”
Ariel Ben Solomon and Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.
View original Jerusalem Post publication at: http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Erdogan-No-justification-for-Israeli-strikes-in-Syria-312357
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