Erdoğan accuses US, UK of 'seeking bloodbath' in Red Sea

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused U.S. and British forces of seeking to turn the Red Sea into a "bloodbath" following pre-dawn airstrikes on rebel-held Yemen.

The military action early on Jan. 12 was in response to weeks of disruptive attacks on Red Sea shipping by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who claim solidarity with Gaza.

Erdoğan, addressing reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul, criticized the strikes as a "disproportionate use of force," drawing parallels with Israel's actions in Gaza.

The airstrikes have intensified concerns about a broader conflict in a region already marked by heightened violence involving Tehran-aligned groups in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria, especially since the Israel-Hamas war began in early October last year.

In addition, Erdoğan also expressed his belief that Israel would be convicted in the genocide case against it at the U.N.'s top court. South Africa has initiated an emergency case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), arguing that Israel is in violation of the U.N. Genocide Convention, signed in 1948 in the aftermath of the Holocaust.

"All the documents we have submitted are working seriously in The Hague, and we will continue to submit these documents more and more," Erdoğan stated. "I believe that Israel will be convicted there with these documents, we are waiting for that."