ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday condemned the crackdown on US college campus protests, saying authorities were showing cruelty in clamping down on pro-Palestinian students.
Demonstrations have spread in colleges across the United States over Israel’s war in Gaza, prompting police crackdowns and arrests.
Erdogan at an event in Ankara said students and academics including anti-Zionist Jews are protesting the massacre in Gaza at some prestigious universities in America.
He added these people are being subjected to cruelty, violence, suffering, and even torture for demanding the massacre to stop. The president said that university staff were being fired and lynched for supporting the Palestinians in Gaza.
Turkiye, a NATO ally of the United States, has strongly condemned Israel’s attacks on Gaza and what it calls the unconditional support it gets from Western nations.
The US is a top supplier of military assistance to Israel and has protected the country from critical United Nations votes.
Erdogan said the limits of Western democracy are drawn by the interests of Israel. “Whatever infringes on Israel’s interests is anti-democratic, antisemitic for them,” he said.
According to Gaza health authorities, Israel’s relentless bombardment has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians including women and children since October 7.
