Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Zionist entity of being a "terrorist state" on Monday and criticized world powers for supporting the weeklong bombardment of Gaza.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Zionist entity of being a "terrorist state" on Monday and criticized world powers for supporting the weeklong bombardment of Gaza that has killed more some 116 people, signaling that the three-year-old rift between the countries is deepening.

Speaking in Istanbul shortly after returning from Cairo, where he held emergency talks on Gaza with Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi, Erdogan railed against what he called Western powers' failure to take concerted action to stop bloodshed in Syria. But harsher words were aimed at one-time ally the Zionist entity of occupation.

Those who speak of Muslims and terror side by side are turning a blind eye when Muslims are massacred en masse," he told a gathering of the Eurasian Islamic Council.

"Those who turn a blind eye to discrimination toward Muslims in their own countries, are also closing their eyes to the savage massacre of innocent children in Gaza. … Therefore, I say Israel is a terrorist state.”

Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, stepped up its diplomatic involvement in the Gaza conflict over the weekend, when PM Erdogan visited Cairo to help Egypt's Mursi push negotiations for a cease-fire. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu plans to travel to Gaza on Tuesday with a group of foreign ministers from the Arab League, Turkey's state news agency Anadolu reported on Sunday.

Turkey's prime minister also criticized the United Nations, which called on the Zionist entity and Hamas to work with Egypt to achieve a cease-fire in the conflict. "I'm asked how much I trust the U.N. I don't trust it," Erdogan said, urging once again to reform the world body to make the Security Council more inclusive and effective in stopping bloodshed world-wide.