Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, of incitement to genocide on Thursday after Fidan called Israel a “burden that humanity can no longer bear” and said it was a “problem” for the world.

Fidan made the comments in a TV interview, in which he called for global sanctions on Israel. His comments followed Israel’s recognition this week of the 1915 Armenian genocide, which Ankara denies.

“Israel is not just Turkey’s problem, nor is it just the issue of our president,” Fidan said in the interview, according to subtitles posted by Sa’ar. “But everyone knows it, feels it, whispers it in hidden corners, and occasionally speaks openly. These are humanity’s common problems. This is what we must call it.”

He continued, “These people have become a burden that humanity can no longer bear, with their policies and their mindset. Humanity cannot bear this… I may be the only country raising my voice, but this is a problem for all of you.”

Sa’ar shot back on X, writing that Fidan’s “sickening words are textbook incitement to genocide.”

The foreign minister added, “Dehumanizing the Jewish people as an ‘unbearable burden’ is the classic, horrific language of history’s worst eliminationist regimes. The civilized world and Turkey’s NATO allies must unequivocally condemn this explicit call........

© The Times of Israel