Turkey's Erdogan to Merz: does Germany not see Israeli genocide in Gaza?

Oct 30, 2025

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz shake hands as they attend a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, October 30, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas — Umit Bektas

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan slammed Germany over what he said was its ignorance of Israel's "genocide", famine and attacks in Gaza, at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Ankara on Thursday.

Erdogan said Israel had nuclear and other weapons with which it was using and threatening Gaza, adding Palestinian militant group Hamas had none of those. He said Israel had once again attacked Gaza in recent days despite a ceasefire in the enclave.

"Does Germany not see these?" he said, adding it was Turkey, Germany and other countries' humanitarian duty to end the famine and massacres in Gaza.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)

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