No difference between Hitler, Netanyahu, says Turkish President Erdogan

There is "no difference" between what Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu is doing in the months-long attacks on Gaza and what Nazi leader Adolf Hitler did decades ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

At a science awards ceremony in the capital Ankara on Wednesday, Erdogan asked: "How do you (Netanyahu) differ from Hitler? They will make us think that Hitler is less evil. Is there anything Netanyahu does that is less than Hitler? No."

The Turkish president drew a comparison between the treatment of scholars worldwide who dare to decry oppression and persecution today and in Nazi Germany 80 years ago.

A "witch hunt" has been initiated against anyone criticising Israel, including students, in many internationally renowned educational institutions, Erdogan said.

He stressed that academics in the US and elsewhere are being fired or censured for standing up for Palestinians, as well as facing pressure and threats, just as those who stood up for the Jewish people decades ago.

Speaking to scholars who are facing pressure for "defending human dignity," in Gaza, he said, "the doors of Turkish universities are wide open to you."

International institutions have failed

"We realised that the institutions that talk big and spend big budgets are completely hollow when it comes to Israel and its atrocities," the president said.

"From the UN Security Council to press organisations, from the EU to journalist groups, all institutions that serve as apostles of democracy have failed (over the Israeli attacks on Gaza)," he said.

The Turkish president said that not only international organisations but also prestigious Western universities have failed on the Gaza issue.

"Can you imagine that university presidents are being questioned and held accountable in Congress just because they advocate for the rights of children, women, and civilians?" he asked, referring to the presidents of Harvard, Pennsylvania and MIT universities, who testified to the US Congress over anti-Semitism on campuses on December 5.

"The slightest criticism, even within the limits of law and democracy, is suppressed by attaching the label of anti-Semitism, and is considered a crime."

Israel launched a massive military assault on Gaza following a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, killing at least 21,110 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 55,243 others, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million people displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicines.

Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

"Despite the diplomatic efforts made by conscientious countries such as Türkiye, unfortunately, we couldn't prevent the killing of hundreds of Gazans every day," Erdogan said.

Terrorists can't stop Türkiye

Addressing the ceremony in Ankara, Erdogan added that terror attacks would not be able to stop Türkiye's advance, saying: "I want it to be known that the heinous terrorist attacks, aimed at stifling Türkiye's rise, will never be able to derail our holy march."

"I have no doubt that this century we are in will be the era of our nation and our state."

Recalling that 12 Turkish soldiers were killed in a PKK terrorist attack last week, Erdogan said in just 36 hours Türkiye neutralised dozens of terrorists, adding that "the blood of martyrs" will not go in vain.

Türkiye carried out air operations on 71 targets in northern Iraq and Syria, the Turkish Defence Ministry said in an earlier statement.

PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq to plot cross-border attacks in Türkiye. It also has a Syrian branch, known as the YPG.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and EU — has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.​​​​​​​