NEW YORK
Turkey has been the target of "baseless" accusations regarding the militant group ISIL, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoganspeaking to the Council of Foreign Relations, a U.S. think tank, Monday in New York.
Erdogan emphasised that Turkey is a country that has fought terrorism on its own for long time and has paid a heavy cost and that "any support from Turkey to a terrorist organization is out of question."
Regarding the 49 Turkish hostages released by ISIL on Saturday after three months, Erdogan said: "Turkey acted very carefully, taking into account of the security of its citizens."
He dismissed claims of any oil trade between Turkey and ISIL.
A treaty signed by ten Arab countries to build a military campaign against ISIL, which controls swaths of Iraq and Syria, was not signed by Turkey. The treaty was signed by ten Arab countries, including the Gulf Cooperation Council states, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, as well as the U.S.
Erdogan also addressed claims of anti-Semitism, which arose as a result of Turkey's criticism of Israel for its 51-day attack on Gaza during July and August, which resulted in the deaths of over two thousand Gazans.
Erdogan said criticizing Israel for its indiscriminate massacres in Gaza cannot be deemed anti-Semitism.
"Palestine is not only the issue of Palestinians, it deeply affects all Muslim population and conscientious people in the world. The Palestine issue is at the center of all other crises in the Middle East."
"Knowing this sensitivity, Israel never drew back from putting the region's people and its own population into a dangeorus position. Criticizing a state for indiscriminatively attacking innocent children in their houses, in mosques, hospitals, schools and beaches is nothing to do with anti-Semitism," he added.
Israel's unrelenting attacks on Gaza had left 2,152 Palestinians dead and more than 11,000 others injured. The 51-day war came to a halt on August 26.
Thousands of homes and buildings, including several schools, were either totally or partially destroyed by Israeli attacks.
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