Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has described recent statements by his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan as “incitement to genocide.”

Fidan had stated that Israel had become a “burden” for the international community.

The Turkish foreign minister had said in an interview with CNN Turk on Thursday that due their politics and mentality, Israel and its people had become a “burden that humanity can no longer bear.”

“Turkish FM Hakan Fidan’s sickening words are textbook incitement to genocide. Dehumanizing the Jewish people as an ‘unbearable burden’ is the classic, horrific language of history’s worst eliminationist regimes. The civilized world and Turkey's NATO allies must unequivocally condemn this explicit call for the erasure of Israel,” Sa’ar wrote on X.

Relations between Israel and Turkey soured in late 2023 following the Jewish state’s military operation in the Gaza Strip. The two countries recalled their ambassadors and suspended trade relations. The current Turkish leadership has consistently criticized the Israeli authorities for their policies in the region.