Prime Minister's Office: Erdogan blaming Egypt turmoil on Israel is "nonsense"

Foreign Ministry: Statements not worth commenting on; White House says statements offensive, unsubstantiated, wrong; US State Department: Comments harm moving diplomatic process forward.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday that comments from Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan which blamed Israel for the military coup and crisis in Egypt had no validity.

An official from the prime minister's office said comments made by the prime minister were "nonsense."

Related:

• Erdogan: Israel orchestrated Morsi overthrow, Egypt unrest
• White House: US has not cut aid to Egypt

On Tuesday, the United States responded to Erdogan's accusations, saying it "strongly condemns" the "offensive" comments.

"We strongly condemn the statements that were made by Prime Minister Erdogan today. Suggesting that Israel is somehow responsible for recent events in Egypt is offensive, unsubstantiated, and wrong," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in a briefing.

State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf on reiterated the comments and said the Turkish leader's comments harmed the diplomatic process going forward.

Erdogan told provincial leaders of his AK Party on Tuesday that his government had evidence Israel had a hand in events that led to the ouster of Mohammed Morsi, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, from Egypt's presidency.

Prime Minister's Office: Erdogan blaming Egypt turmoil on Israel is "nonsense"
http://n360.to/14AmbwA

John Hames