Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday accused Israel of ‘shamelessly’ attacking UN chief Antonio Guterres by declaring him ‘persona non grata’ for not quickly condemning Iran’s ballistic missile barrage.
Israel ‘is shamelessly challenging UN secretary-general Guterres,’ Erdogan told an audience at a defence technology fair in the southern province of Adana.
He added that ‘196 countries in the world will stand by the UN secretary-general’ against Israel.
Relations between the UN and Israel have been difficult since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the Gaza war.
On Wednesday, Guterres was declared persona non grata by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, accusing him of failing to specifically condemn Iran’s missile attack on the country this week. Katz called Guterres an ‘anti-Israel secretary-general who lends support to terrorists, rapists, and murderers.’
‘Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil,’ Katz said in a statement.
Guterres pointedly condemned Iran’s attack at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday.
The Security Council on Thursday offered its full support to Guterres.
Without naming Israel, the council’s five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — and 10 non-permanent members ‘underscored the need for all member states to have a productive and effective relationship with the secretary-general.’
Erdogan on Tuesday condemned Israel’s ground operation in Lebanon and urged the United Nations and other international organisations to stop Israel without ‘wasting any more time’.
‘Whatever it does, Israel will be stopped sooner or later,’ Erdogan told the Turkish parliament at the opening of the legislative year.
‘All state and international organisations, especially the UN, must stop Israel without wasting any more time,’ he said.
The Israeli army said that it launched a ground offensive in Lebanon and that its forces engaged in clashes Tuesday, escalating the conflict after a week of intense air strikes that killed hundreds.