President Obama praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “a man of action” and one of the five world leaders with whom he had the strongest bond. President Trump met with him at the White House last spring. And certainly, Erdogan has tried to portray himself to Western leaders as a pragmatist with whom they can work. But at a convention of his ruling party Sunday, Erdogan invoked a Muslim hadith — a collection of the accounts and sayings of Muhammad — that made clear his view of
Jews and the state of Israel, according to dissident Turkish journalist Abdullah Bozkurt, the Investigative Project on Terrorism reported. “Those who think they own Jerusalem better know that tomorrow they won’t be able to hide behind trees,” Erdogan said, according to Bozkurt. That statement essentially is an affirmation of a prophecy that all Jews will one day be destroyed, the journalist said. Bozkurt explained Erdogan was making “a veiled threat of killing each and every Jew with a shocking reference to the apocalyptic prophecy of tree story.” MORE
