Turkey condemns Netanyahu's 'blatant racism'

Turkey strongly condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "blatant racism" after he said the country was the nation-state of "the Jewish people" only, not all its citizens.

"I strongly condemn this blatant racism and discrimination," Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalın said on his official Twitter account, adding that 1.6 million Arabs and Muslims live in Israel.

Kalın continued by asking if the Western governments will react to such a controversial statement or remain silent amid pressure.

Ahead of the April 9 elections, Netanyahu said Israel "was not a state of all its citizens" in reference to the country's Arab population.

"According to the basic nationality law we passed, Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people -- and only it," he said.

Netanyahu has been criticized for demonizing and marginalizing the country's Arab population, which makes up around 17.5 percent of the total population.