ANKARA, Turkey (TheBlaze/AP) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is being accused of “inciting violence against the Jewish people” after he claimed recently that the Israeli government is committing genocide and has “surpassed what Hitler did to them.”
“[Israelis] have no conscience, no honor, no pride. Those who condemn Hitler day and night have surpassed Hitler in barbarism,” Erdogan said a political rally in the Turkish city of Ordu.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech in Istanbul, during the high-speed train opening cerenomy on July 25, 2014 in Istanbul. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated the first high-speed train link between Ankara and Istanbul on July 25, 2014, his latest ambitious grand engineering project, but arrived late after a technical problem on the maiden trip. AFP PHOTO / OZAN KOSE
He also alleged that Israel is intentionally rejecting Hamas’ cease-fire proposals and “spitting death, spitting blood.”
Now A Jewish American group is asking the prime minister to return an award it gave him in 2004 over the “dangerous rhetoric.”
In an open letter to Erdogan Thursday, Jack Rosen, the president of the American Jewish Congress, said Erdogan had become "arguably the most virulent anti-Israel leader in the world."
Rosen said Erdogan was given the Profile of Courage award in 2004 because he had at the time worked for a peaceful solution to the Mideast conflict and because of his commitment to protecting Jewish citizens in Turkey.
Erdogan stood by his comments in a recent interview with CNN:
