Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday during a speech at the parliament that Hamas cannot be described as a terror group since its members were merely “defending their land” in their murderous assault against Israel. “Hamas is not a terrorist organization, it is a liberation group, ‘mujahideen’ waging a battle to protect its lands and people,” he told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party, using an Arabic word denoting those who fight for their faith. He received a standing ovation for his words. Erdogan also described Israel’s action in Gaza as one of the “bloodiest, most disgusting and most savage attack in history.” “We have no problem with the Israeli state, but we never have, and never will, accept the atrocities committed by Israel and the fact that it acts as an organization rather than a state,” he said. He also said he is canceling his trip to Israel due to the “inhumane war.” Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat released the following statement in response: Israel wholeheartedly rejects the Turkish President’s harsh words about the terrorist organization Hamas. Hamas is a despicable terrorist organization worse than ISIS that brutally and intentionally murders babies, children, women and the elderly, takes civilians hostage and uses its own people as human shields. Even the Turkish president’s attempt to defend the terrorist organization and his inciting words will not change the horrors that the whole world has seen and the unequivocal fact: Hamas = ISIS Erdogan’s comments drew a swift rebuke from Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who said they were “grave and disgusting and did not help with de-escalation”. He urged Italy’s foreign minister to lodge a formal protest with Ankara. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)