Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is working overtime in his ongoing efforts to delegitimize Israel in the international community while simultaneously seeking to gain position as a regional leader among radical Arab nations. In his latest verbal attack against Israel, the former ally stated that while the West may view Israel as being threatened by her neighbors, in actuality, it is the Arab neighbors of Israel who live under the veil of a nuclear threat from Israel. Erdogan suggested focusing on the Israeli nuclear threat rather than being overly concerned with the ongoing nuclear program in Iran.

In a Time magazine article published on Tuesday, Erdogan dismissed claims that the agreement to install NATO radar in Turkey was a response to the nuclear threat posed by Iran towards protecting Israel, explaining the radar is in line with NATO obligations.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told state run TV “The missile defense shield is aimed at defending the Zionist regime. They don’t want to let our missiles land in the occupied territories (Israel) if one day they take action against us. That’s why they put it there,” Ahmadinejad said in an address to the nation on state TV late Tuesday.

Ahmadinejad added that nonetheless, the radar system will not prevent the fall of the Zionist regime. The Iranian leader expressed displeasure of Turkey’s decision to permit the system’s installation, but Erdogan explained the radar shield was installed in compliance with a NATO request, which does not mention any country specifically, adding if the system was intended against Iran Turkey would not have agreed to cooperate.

Erdogan used the forum to once again call for UN sanctions against Israel, insisting this would rapidly bring an end to the conflict between Israel and the PA (Palestinian Authority), explaining that while many UN resolutions have been passed against Israel, they are never followed by sanctions, hence the lack of enforcement.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)