Erdogan says US displaying 'cruelty' in crackdown on student protests

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that US authorities were displaying "cruelty" in cracking down on pro-Palestinian students and academics.

Police have forcefully cracked down on several protests and encampments at US universities, including by carrying out mass arrests.

"Conscientious students and academics including anti-Zionist Jews at some prestigious American universities are protesting the massacre [in Gaza]," Erdogan said in Ankara on Thursday.

"These people are being subjected to violence, cruelty, suffering, and even torture for saying the massacre has to stop," he said, adding that university staff were being "sacked and lynched" for supporting Palestinians.

"The limits of western democracy are drawn by Israel's interests," Erdogan said. "Whatever infringes on Israel's interests is anti-democratic, antisemitic for them."