Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is going to court because a political opponent compared him to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
State media reports that Erdogan demands compensation of a quarter of a million lira from the nationalist politician Meral Aksener.
Aksener stated this week that Erdogan and Netanyahu are using the same methods of holding on to power. She noted that the Israeli leader’s attacks on the Gaza Strip are trying to boost his popular support after several consecutive elections with no clear winner. She called Netanyahu the “Israeli version of Erdogan”.
The president reacted furiously to that “immoral” comment. “Netanyahu is not and never will be our friend,” he said on television Wednesday night.
Erdogan has strongly condemned the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip. He accused Israel of “terrorism” against the Palestinians and said that children “five or six years old” are being murdered.