Turkey on March 12 denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "blatant racism" after he called Israel the nation-state of "the Jewish people" only, not all its citizens, Hurriyet Daily reported.

"I strongly condemn this blatant racism and discrimination," presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın wrote on his official Twitter account both in Turkish and English.

"1.6 million Arabs/Muslims live in Israel. Will the Western governments react or keep silent under pressure again?" he asked.