Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan gives a statement after a meeting in Ankara, Turkey, April 5, 2021. Photo: Murat Cetinmuhurdar/PPO/Handout via REUTERS

The United States on Tuesday strongly condemned recent comments by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on the Jewish people as antisemitic, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

“We urge President Erdogan and other Turkish leaders to refrain from incendiary remarks, which could incite further violence,” Price said in a statement.

“Antisemitic language has no place anywhere,” he said.

Price did not specify which Erdogan remarks the United States considered antisemitic. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.

Erdogan, a vocal defender of the Palestinians, has criticized Israel for conducting air strikes on Gaza and called it a “terror state” after Israeli police fired rubber bullets at rock-throwing Palestinians in Jerusalem.