Turkey has started to evacuate wounded from Gaza for treatment, according to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan did not provide details, but the state-run Anadolu Agency said a Turkish air ambulance left for Israel late on Sunday to transport four people to Turkey for treatment in hospitals in the capital Ankara. The agency said a child was among the wounded.
Erdogan has been quoted as saying Israel is "keeping Hitler's spirit alive," according to the International Business Times.
Turkish protestors set the Israeli flag and a poster of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud on fire as they shout slogans during a demonstration to denounce the Israeli military operations in Gaza on August 5, 2014 in Diyarbakir. (Image source: AFP/Ilyas Akengin/Getty Images)
"What is the difference between what Nazis and Hitler did and what this Israeli administration is doing now?" Erdogan asked, reported IBT. "Israeli genocide is reminiscent of Hitler's holocaust because of acting with the same immorality as Hitler."
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Image source: AP/Emilio Morenatti)
"Ottomans protected the Jewish people in the past," he added, IBT said. "Don't you have any shame now? How immoral people are you?"
The Turkish leader has also accused Israel of having "surpassed Hitler in barbarism," IBT noted, adding that Israel has advised its citizens against traveling to Turkey.
Turkish protestors shout slogans during a demonstration to denounce the Israeli military operations in Gaza on August 5, 2014 in Diyarbakir. (Image source: AFP/Ilyas Akengin/Getty Images)
Erdogan made the announcement about the Gaza evacuations during a victory speech hours after he was elected president in Turkey's first direct vote for the position this weekend.
Turkey was working to establish an air corridor to bring the seriously wounded to the country, according to Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
This story has been updated.
