ISTANBUL - Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu accused his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday of terrorism and said Israeli "provocations" such as the bombardment of Gaza were contributing to radicalization in the Muslim world.
In a Reuter’s interview, Davutoglu said peace in the Middle East and the eradication of extremist groups would be virtually impossible without the establishment of a Palestinian state.
He also warned the international community against focusing solely on fighting Islamic State militants in its efforts to end the conflict in Syria, saying the "brutality" of President Bashar al-Assad was the root cause of the problem.
Turkey, an EU candidate nation and member of the NATO military alliance, is a key Western ally in the fight against Islamic jihadists. But its leaders have become increasingly concerned about what they see as rising Islamophobia in Europe and increasingly outspoken in their criticism of Israel.
"(Netanyahu) himself killed, his army killed children in the playground. They killed our citizens and an American citizen in international waters. This is terrorism," Davutoglu said, referring to a 2010 Israeli assault on a Turkish boat attempting to break Israel's blockade of the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
"Nobody can argue about Israeli aggression in Jerusalem in the al-Aqsa mosque," he added. "These provocations create frustration in the Muslim world and are becoming one of the reasons why these radical trends are emerging," he said.
"If we want to establish peace and order in the Middle East, eliminating all the extremist forces, we have to solve the Palestinian question."
Davutoglu on Thursday compared Netanyahu to the Islamist militants who killed 17 people in Paris last week, saying both had committed crimes against humanity.
Netanyahu has called for an international condemnation of Davutoglu's remarks and those of President Tayyip Erdogan, after he criticized the Israeli prime minister's attendance with other world leaders at a solidarity march in Paris. (Reuters)