Lindsey Graham says Turkey becoming 'The Squad' of NATO after President Erdogan called Israel a 'war criminal'

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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Turkey is becoming "The Squad" of NATO after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Israel a war criminal in its fight against Hamas terrorists.

The GOP senator made the comment Saturday in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

"Seems that Turkey, particularly senior leadership, is setting itself up to be 'The Squad' of NATO," Graham wrote. "Very disappointing and destabilizing."

"The Squad" refers to the informal name of a group of progressive Democrat U.S. House members, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamal Bowman of New York, Cori Bush of Missouri and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.

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Sen. Lindsey Graham said Turkey is becoming "The Squad" of NATO. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Some of these "Squad" members have been openly critical of Israel's government since Hamas launched its surprise attack on the Jewish State on Oct. 7.

"As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue," Tlaib, who has a well-documented history of anti-Israel comments, said in a statement the day after Hamas' attack began.

Tlaib also continues to doubt the Israeli and U.S. governments' findings that an airstrike at a hospital in Gaza was the result of a misfired rocket launched from Gaza by the Hamas ally Islamic Jihad that was targeting Israel.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Israel a war criminal for its response to Hamas terrorists' attack. (AP Photo/Ali Unal, File)

The congresswoman further attempted to discredit the findings, which also determined the explosion was mostly in the parking lot of the hospital and that the death toll is estimated to be much lower than the several hundred Hamas first alleged, because she says the Israeli and U.S. governments have a well-documented history of misleading the public about war crimes.

Graham's post linked to a Fox News Digital report about the recent comments from Erdogan condemning Israel as a war criminal for its retaliation against Hamas.

"Israel has been openly committing war crimes for 22 days, but the Western leaders cannot even call on Israel for a ceasefire, let alone react to it," Erdogan told a crowd in Istanbul.

Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., speak a news conference at the U.S. Capitol. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

"We will tell the whole world that Israel is a war criminal. We are making preparations for this. We will declare Israel a war criminal," the Turkish president added.

Following Erdogan's comments, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Eli Cohen said Israel is recalling its diplomats from Turkey so that it can conduct a reevaluation of Israel-Turkey relations.

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Turkey had denounced the violence in Israel and condemned the deaths caused by Hamas shortly after the terrorist group began its attack earlier this month. But after Israel's response, Erdogan shifted his support and started to refer to Hamas terrorists as "freedom fighters."

More than 8,700 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel in decades on Oct. 7, leading to retaliatory action from Israeli forces. Thousands more have been wounded, and many others have been taken hostage by Hamas and raped, tortured and murdered.