Erdogan says Israeli attacks ‘unforgivable’

Ankara also warned that the Israeli campaign might risk the close ties with Tel Aviv.

"There is nothing excusable, forgivable with this act. Bombs are killing the peace only. There is no lawful justification whatsoever for attacking indiscriminately the civilians and children this way," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

Israeli tank fire killed more than 40 Palestinians demonstrating against Israel’s military drive into the Rafah refugee camp. Many of the casualties were children. Despite outcries from the international community, Israel pushed deeper into the camp on Thursday, killing five more Palestinians. Dozens also have been wounded, and refugee camp residents have been dealing with power outages and lack of water.

The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution with a 14-0 vote, with the United States abstaining, to condemn Israel and call for an end to the demolition of Palestinians’ houses in the camp by Israeli bulldozers.

Erdogan said the international community should do more.

"We should not stop at condemning, all related countries should do something further than condemning," Erdogan said in remarks prior to his departure to Romania for a visit. "If we’re going to create a common platform against terrorism, we should first act against these kind of developments reaching the point of terror by states."

The Turkish Foreign Ministry also condemned the Gaza operation in strong terms, saying there could be no legal justification for Israeli attacks "directly targeting civilians" and the demolition of houses in the Rafah camp.

"We reiterate once again that excessive and indiscriminate use of force will not strengthen Israel’s security," a statement from the Foreign Ministry said.

Relations at risk
"What is going on in Palestine, what Israel has been doing over the recent days, are certainly very worrying. We believe these are very dangerous developments," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said.

"We strongly condemn it. This cannot not bring peace. Such a policy is something that Turkey can never approve," Gul told the Anatolia news agency, describing the Wednesday operation in Gaza as a "true case of excessiveness."

Asked whether the Gaza operation could affect Turkey’s efforts to improve ties with the Jewish state, Gul said: "For sure, it will. It affects everybody, the whole region."

Turkey is the closest ally of Israel in the hostile Middle East. The two countries cooperate in the military field, with Israeli companies supplying or modernizing several key armaments of the Turkish military. They have also signed an agreement for sale of water from a Turkish river to Israel.

Parliament to debate Palestine, Iraq
Attacks in the Gaza Strip came on the same day when more than 40 Iraqis were killed when a U.S. helicopter fired on a house in the desert near the Syrian border. Iraqis said those who were killed gathered in the house for a wedding ceremony. The U.S. military said the target was a suspected safehouse for foreign fighters from Syria.

"When I watched the sufferings in (the Palestinian territories) and Iraq, I saw how it was inhumane, I felt sad as a father. It is unforgivable," Erdogan said.

Turkish Parliament will open a debate on Tuesday on the mounting violence in Iraq and Palestine.

"I hope the negative developments will end. Nobody knows who is going to be in the circle of fire tomorrow. Today, it is them (Iraqis and Palestinians); tomorrow, it could be us," Faruk Celik, deputy parliamentary group chairman of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party said.

The debate in the General Assembly has been requested both by the AK Party and the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). Accusing the government of "insensitivity" towards developments in Iraq, CHP’s Ali Topuz said his party expected a strong-worded statement from the Turkish Parliament at the end of Tuesday’s debate.

Turkish political parties and nongovernmental organizations have lashed out at the United States for mistreating Iraqi captives, after pictures of mistreatment and abuse were revealed to the public earlier this month.

Criticizing the government for not actively speaking out against what happens in Iraq, Topuz said the public was not satisfied with the government position, which he said consisted of following the U.S. and British line.