ANKARA, Turkey —Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on for attending a solidarity rally in France after the attack on satirical journal Charlie Hebdo and hostage-taking at a Jewish supermarket in Paris. "How can a man who has killed 2,500 people in Gaza with state terrorism wave his hand in Paris, like people are waiting in excitement for him to do so? How dare he go there?" he said Monday as he stood alongside visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"You should first give an account for the children and the women you have killed," added Erdogan, who has been an outspoken critic of Israeli offensives against Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, despite close commercial ties between Israel and Turkey.
Erdogan also accused the West of hypocrisy for its stance over the Paris attacks, while failing to condemn anti-Muslim acts in Europe. "The West's hypocrisy is obvious. As Muslims, we've never taken part in terrorist massacres. Behind these lie racism, hate speech and Islamophobia," Erdogan said. "Please, the administrations in those countries where our mosques are attacked need to take measures."
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