Erdogan goes bananas at UN, demands apology and payoff from Israel

(EYE) NEW YORK (JPost) – In an animated speech, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke out vehemently against Israel and put the blame for the current Israel-Turkey tension solely on the shoulders of the Israeli government.

Calling Turkish support for a Palestinian state “unconditional,” Erdogan said that “it is necessary to put pressure on Israel to achieve peace.”

“What you face today is not a simple equation of peace for security,” he said. “You must read the newly flourishing political and human geography in the Middle East.”

A new approach was necessitated by the changing political climate created by the Arab Spring, he said.

Citing May 2010’s Mavi Marmara incident, Erdogan said that Israel “has seriously wronged a country and its people.”

“Israel must apologize, pay compensate to the families of our martyrs, and lift the blockade on Gaza,” he said.