At a rally prior to his election as president of Turkey, then-Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said: "Just like Hitler tried to create a pure Aryan race in Germany, the State of Israel is pursuing the same goals right now." He added: "The more they shed blood, the more they will drown in the blood that they shed." The crowds responded with chants: "Damn Israel! Down with Israel!" The address was posted on the Internet on August 3, 2014.
Following are excerpts from Erdogan's address:
"First [The Jews] Turned The Ottoman Empire Into A Cadaver... Then A Terrible Atrocity Began For Palestine And The Palestinians"
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: "100 years ago, we withdrew our soldiers from Shuj'aiyya [in the Gaza Strip], but we never withdrew our hearts. If half of our heart is in Istanbul, rest assured that the other half is still in Gaza. Theodor Herzl sent an emissary to the great sovereign, Sultan Abdulhamid. He offered great amounts of money and gold in return for land in Palestine."
"Sultan Abdulhamid replied as follows: 'My two regiments, coming from Palestine and Syria, lovingly gave their lives down to the last soldier in the defense of Pleven. Not a single one remained alive. They all fell lifeless to the ground. The Turkish Empire belongs to the people of Turkey, not to me. I will not give away even the tiniest piece of it. Let the Jews keep their millions… When the empire is split into pieces, maybe then they can get Palestine without paying a penny. But only – and this is of utmost importance – only our cadaver can be cut into pieces. As long as we are alive, we will never agree for our body to be cut into pieces and divided up."
"Everything happened exactly as Sultan Abdulhamid said: First they turned the Ottoman Empire into a cadaver and cut it into pieces, and then a terrible atrocity began for Palestine and the Palestinians. Step by step, inch by inch, they were driven out, killed, and oppressed. The Palestinians were stripped of the ability to live in their land."
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"Just Like Hitler Tried To Create A Pure Aryan Race In Germany, The State Of Israel Is Pursuing The Same Goals Right Now"
"Now I am going to say something that will upset many people in the world: Just like Hitler tried to create a pure Aryan race in Germany, the State of Israel is pursuing the same goals right now.
"The Turkish-U.S. Friendship group [of the U.S. Congress] sent me a letter. In their letter, they try to threaten me. They will be getting their appropriate response from me, of course."
"But from here, let me also say the following: This is really amazing. They kill the women so that they will not be able to give birth to Palestinian babies. They kill the babies so that they will not be able to grow up to be men. They kill the men so that they will not be able to defend their homeland. They are even afraid of babies in cribs. They are even afraid of children playing in parks or on beaches. They are even afraid of the wounded or the wheelchair-ridden in hospitals."
"The More They Shed Blood, The More They Will Drown In The Blood That They Shed... These Baby Killers – This Israel – Will... Be Held Accountable"
"Rest assured that the more they kill, the more they will be afraid. The more they shed blood, the more they will drown in the blood that they shed. No cruelty lasts forever. The day is sure to come when they will be held accountable for their atrocities. We impatiently await this day of reckoning. We believe, from the bottom of our hearts, that laws will be implemented and that justice will prevail. We know that these baby killers – this Israel – will sooner or later be held accountable for all their deeds in accordance with the law."
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Crowd: "Damn Israel! Down with Israel!
"Damn Israel! Down with Israel!
"Damn Israel! Down with Israel!
"Damn Israel! Down with Israel!
"Damn Israel! Down with Israel!"
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: "Brothers and sisters, Allah willing, we shall continue to be on the side of justice. Peace, Gaza, and Palestine – until our final breath." [...]