Turkish PM Erdogan: Israel war crimes worse than Sudan

Just when you think Erdogan hits bottom, he keeps digging deeper.

(Haaretz) Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday accused Israel of committing greater crimes against Palestinians during its war in the Gaza Strip than those for which Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir had been indicted.

Erdogan said he would rather confront Bashir, indicted for orchestrating crimes against humanity in Darfur, than discuss state killings of civilians with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Turkish prime minister also said that he did not believe that Bashir was guilty of the crimes for which he was indicted.

"I cannot discuss this with Netanyahu but I can easily discuss such issues with Omar al-Bashir. I can say to his face: What you are doing is wrong," Erdogan said.

Erdogan said Bashir is free to join an Istanbul summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference this week. The 57-nation group holds its main meetings Monday.

Money quote:

The Turkish prime minister said Ankara respects human rights and would not hesitate to challenge Bashir if it believed he had committed atrocities. But Erdogan said he does not believe that Sudanese paramilitary forces committed acts of genocide against African residents of Darfur.

"It is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide," Erdogan told ruling party members.

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Yeah, Muslims in Turkey didn't commit genocide against Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians during WWI, and Muslims in Sudan didn't commit genocide against Darfurians.

Turkey can now officially kiss goodbye to its hopes for EU membership.