Turkish president calls Israel a ‘terror state’

TURKEY - Turkey’s president has escalated his vitriol over the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, calling Israel a “terror state.”

In a speech Sunday in central Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “Israel is a terror state.” He called Israeli forces “terrorists,” referring to a photograph of a blindfolded Palestinian youth being led away by more than a dozen soldiers in the West Bank. “We won’t leave Jerusalem to the mercy of a child-murdering country,” Erdogan said, accusing Israel of having no values other than “occupation and plunder.” Erdogan said Turkey would continue its diplomatic efforts to reverse President Trump’s announcement, which he calls “null.” Meanwhile, scores of Lebanese and Palestinian demonstrators have clashed with security forces outside the US Embassy in Beirut. The protesters gathered hundreds of yards away from the embassy on Sunday, where they burned an effigy of Trump, U.S. and Israeli flags, as well as piles of garbage, sending plumes of smoke into the air.

As they hurled stones, security forces responded with tear gas and water cannons. The U.S. decision has ignited protests across the Middle East, where it is widely seen as a blatantly pro-Israel move that threatens the decades-old peace process.

Lebanon is home to 450,000 Palestinian refugees, nearly 10 percent of the population.