Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin has announced that Ankara intends to continue its fight against terrorism without seeking consent from other countries, Hurriyet Daily News reported on Tuesday.
"It is out of the question for Turkey to get permission or consent from Israel or any other country [to fight terror]," he told journalists after a cabinet meeting.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Erdogan on Twitter, calling him "the occupier of northern Cyprus, whose army massacres women and children in Kurdish villages, inside and outside Turkey", and insisted that the Turkish president "should not preach to Israel".
Erdogan – the occupier of northern Cyprus, whose army massacres women and children in Kurdish villages, inside and outside Turkey – should not preach to Israel.
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) December 22, 2018
In response, Erdogan dubbed Netanyahu is "the voice of tyrants" and the head of "state terror".
Meanwhile, Kalin also claimed that US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw American troops from Syria after Erdogan told him “loud and clear” that Washington and Ankara don’t need the help of Kurdish YPG/SDF forces to fight Daesh*.
"There is no step back, weakness, halt, or slowdown in the fight against Daesh terror group," Kalin said after declaring that Turkey will maintain its military presence in the Syrian province of Idlib in order to ensure "security and stability in the region".
The row between the Turkish and Israeli leaders flared following the recent escalation of tensions on the Israel-Gaza border, which claimed the lives of four Palestinians on Friday.
READ MORE: Analysts Explain How Trump's Pull-Out From Syria Affects Turkey, Israel & Russia
In December, Erdogan announced that Turkish forces were prepared to kick off an offensive on the east bank of the Euphrates River against Kurdish formations as soon as possible.
Later, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said that the operation in northern Syria would be postponed until the US troops completely withdraw from the area. At the same time, Erdogan's spokesman said that Ankara is going to coordinate its anti-Daesh campaign with Moscow.
*Daesh (ISIS/ISIL/Islamic State) is a terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
