A congressman from the Sunshine State took aim at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after he made antisemitic comments last week.
Erdogan ripped Israel after that nation clashed with Hamas in Gaza.
“They are murderers, to the point that they kill children who are five or six years old. They are murderers, to the point they drag women on the ground to their death and they are murderers, to the point they kill old people,” Erdogan said. “ They only are satisfied by sucking their blood.”
U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., the chairman of the U.S. House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee and one of the co-chairs of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism pushed back at Erdogan.
“We unequivocally condemn the recent antisemitic remarks of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, which are tantamount to blood libel against the Jewish people. We firmly believe the leader of an American partner should not use the same antisemitic tropes that have been used countless times to justify violence against Jews for centuries. We call upon President Erdogan to retract and renounce his remarks, which only serve to fuel the dangerous rise in global antisemitism and increase the threat to the Jewish community,” Deutch and the other chairs of the task force said in a joint statement.
The other co-chairs are U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., Kay Granger, R-Tex., Ted Lieu, D-Calif., Grace Meng, D-NY, Chris Smith, R-NJ, Marc Veasey, D-Tex., and Randy Weber, R-Tex.
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
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