Turkey declared three days of mourning in order to honor the Palestinians that lost their lives in Israeli operations in Gaza, while they characterized the actions of the Israeli armed forces as “slaughter”.

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters in Ankara that “We condemn the massacre of the Palestinian people by Israel,” while the number of Palestinians who have been killed in this operation has surpassed to 560. “In solidarity to the Palestinian people we declared three days of mourning from tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, “he added.

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the past few days he is trying to appear as a key advocate of the Palestinian struggle, calling the act of Israel in Gaza “genocide”. He even caused the wrath of Israel and the U.S. when he compared the mentality of some Israelis to that of Hitler.

“Turkey has complied a position of principle against the aggression of Israel. Supports the law and not the powerful,” added the Deputy PM.

The Ankara maintains diplomatic relations with Israel, but which have deteriorated in recent years, after the death of ten Turkish activists by Israeli special forces aboard the Mavi Marmara attempted to break the blockade of Gaza in 2010.