Turkey TV series portrays soldiers murdering children

JERUSALEM- An Israeli foreign official criticized Turkey’s ambassador Thursday over a TV series Israel says depicts Israeli soldiers murdering children.

Muslim Turkey’s ties with Israel have deteriorated since Israel’s January offensive against Islamic militants in Gaza, which killed some 1,400 Palestinians.

Clips of the program, shown by Turkey’s TRT television, show military personel in what appear to be Israeli combat uniforms murdering Palestinians under their control. Producer Selcuk Cobanoglu told an Israeli news site that the characters in his series do not represent Israelis.

“The uniforms ... only look similar. The Turkish and American militaries have uniforms like that as well,” he said. “We love the people in Israel. We love the Israelis.”