By HERB KEINONTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu(photo credit: TUMAY BERKIN/REUTERS AND MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)Turkey accused Israel of becoming a “racist, apartheid regime” on Sunday, with Foreign Minister Israel Katz firing back that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in no position to be giving Israel morality lessons.“Erdogan’s regime systematically violates human rights, brutally persecutes the Kurds, and supports the terrorists of Hamas,” Katz said in a tweet. “He is the last person who should be preaching morals to Israel.”Katz’s comment followed an attack on Israel by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at a special meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah. The OIC was discussing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement last week of his intent to annex the Jordan Valley if he wins Tuesday’s election.Speaking in Jeddah, Cavusoglu said Netanyahu’s “embarrassing” plan was a “despicable” attempt to earn votes ahead of the election, and criticized what he called a lack of reaction from other Muslim countries.“Israel, encouraged by the support of certain countries, is continuing its aggressive policies that are turning it into a racist, apartheid regime,” Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency.“If the whole Muslim community had reacted together, the reckless plans, policies and behavior of the United States and Israel would never have reached this point,” he said.Reuters contributed to this report.
