Turkey tells Israeli Consul General to leave country ‘for a while’

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

The Turkish Foreign Ministry on May 16 told Israel’s Consul General in Istanbul Yosef Levi Sfari to leave the country “for a while.”

According to diplomatic sources speaking on condition of anonymity, the ministry told Sfari to leave following indiscriminate violence and killings by Israeli soldiers along the Gaza border.

Turkey’s Consul General in Jerusalem was summoned by the Israeli Foreign Ministry on May 15 and was also asked to leave the country for an indefinite period of time.

In a statement issued by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Gürcan Türkoğlu was summoned and asked to return to his country, considering the latest development on bilateral relations between Jerusalem and Ankara.

At least 62 Palestinians were martyred and thousands more injured by Israeli forces during protests along the Gaza border on May 14.

Thousands of Palestinians gathered on Gaza Strip’s eastern border to take part in protests aimed to commemorate the “Nakba”—the 70th anniversary of Israel’s establishment—and protest the relocation of the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Since the border rallies began on March 30, more than 100 Palestinian demonstrators have been martyred by crossborder Israeli gunfire, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Last week, the Israeli government said the ongoing border protests constituted a “state of war” in which international humanitarian law did not apply.