Of all the hypocrites exploiting the Temple Mount crisis, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stands out.
Protests continue even after Israel agreed to remove the metal detectors from the mount, which includes both the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall. And Erdogan’s egging them on.
“Israel is trying to steal al-Aqsa from the Muslims,” Erdogan said as he urged “all Muslims” to descend on Jerusalem to “protect” it against Israeli soldiers “defiling al-Aqsa with their combat boots.”
This from a guy whose country has illegally occupied more than a third of Cyprus since its 1974 invasion, and still has 40,000 troops there.
And from a leader who’s gone to war on his own citizens, in 2015 tossing aside a cease-fire to launch raids into majority-Kurd areas. In March, a UN report said the operations have killed hundreds and driven up to half a million from their homes.
As Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon notes, Erdogan “would do better to deal with the problems and difficulties in his own country.”
Well, except that he is the problem.