Israel's Foreign Minister has asked NATO to exclude Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to “invade” Israel, the Times of Israel reported, citing a statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Yesterday, at a meeting of the Justice and Development Party, Erdogan said Turkey must be strong to confront Israel in Palestine.
“We can do the same with them as in Karabakh or Libya,” Erdogan said. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz instructed NATO diplomats to contact the alliance countries and demand that Turkey be expelled from the alliance.
Turkey joined NATO in 1952 and has the alliance's second-largest army. NATO has no mechanism for expelling a country, but members can voluntarily leave. Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders has called Erdogan an “Islamofascist” and proposed expelling Turkey from NATO.
The Israeli foreign minister reminded Erdogan of the experience of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Erdogan has recently accused Israel of planning to “spread the war” in Lebanon.
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