ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s foreign ministry lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday over remarks acknowledging the Armenian “genocide,” denouncing them as a bid to cover up the bloodshed in Gaza.
“Netanyahu’s statement regarding the events of 1915 is an attempt to exploit past tragedies for political reasons,” it said in response to remarks by the Israeli leader that effectively acknowledged that World War I-era mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were a “genocide” — a term Turkiye firmly rejects.
“Netanyahu, who is on trial for his role in the genocide committed against the Palestinian people, is attempting to cover up the crimes he and his government have committed,” the ministry statement said.
Israel has dismissed accusations of genocide in Gaza as “blatant lies.”
Netanyahu is not currently on trial on such a charge, although the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrants for him and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Israel’s war in Gaza — including using starvation as a method of warfare.
In an interview with PBD Podcast, Netanyahu was asked why he hadn’t yet recognized the Armenian killings as genocide, and he replied saying: “I just did.”
In December 2023, South Africa brought a case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Israel’s Gaza offensive breached the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Judges are examining the charge.
Turkiye says Netanyahu remarks on Armenia ‘genocide’ bid to distract from Gaza
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Turkiye says Netanyahu remarks on Armenia ‘genocide’ bid to distract from Gaza
Zelensky visits Kupiansk as Ukraine retakes parts of frontline town
- “Today it is extremely important to achieve results on the front lines so that Ukraine can achieve results in diplomacy,” Zelensky said
- Ukraine’s Khartiia Corps of the National Guard said it had liberated several northern districts of Kupiansk
KYIV: Ukrainian forces said they had retaken parts of the northeastern town of Kupiansk and had encircled Russian troops there as President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the area and praised the operation, saying it strengthened Ukraine diplomatically.
With US-backed peace efforts underway, Moscow has said it is advancing on all fronts and that it has seized Kupiansk and the strategic city of Pokrovsk in the east. Kyiv has denied this, saying that the fighting is continuing.
In a video clip posted on his social media account on Friday, Zelensky, wearing a bulletproof vest, is seen standing in front of a sign bearing the town’s name at the entrance to Kupiansk.
“Today it is extremely important to achieve results on the front lines so that Ukraine can achieve results in diplomacy,” Zelensky said in the clip.
RUSSIANS IN KUPIANSK ‘COMPLETELY CUT OFF’, KYIV SAYS
Ukraine’s Khartiia Corps of the National Guard said it had liberated several northern districts of Kupiansk.
Russian supply routes have been cut off and several hundred Russian troops are surrounded, Khartiia said on the Telegram messaging app.
Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.
“Today, we can say that the Russians in the city are completely cut off. For a long time, they couldn’t understand what was happening. But now they know they are surrounded,” Ihor Obolienskyi, Khartiia’s commander, was quoted by the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet as saying.
Russia, which began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian assertions.
Ukraine’s Deep State battlefield mapping project now shows at least three villages to the north and west of Kupiansk under Ukrainian control.
Kupiansk’s northern districts are also shown as being under Ukrainian control, and the map suggests Russian troops are encircled in the city center.
Military analysts said that in November, the pace of Russian advances had picked up to its highest this year as troops moved forward, taking control of smaller villages.
Russia said on Thursday it had captured the eastern town of Siversk. Kyiv said it remained under Ukrainian control.
