Turkey's communications chief Burhanettin Duran has responded angrily to comments from Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz. Katz's remarks took aim at President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and at Turkey as a whole. Duran rejected the statements and indicated that Ankara would not let them pass. The two countries have been trading hostile words for months, with Gaza sitting at the heart of the rift. The communications office speaks for the presidency, so his reaction can be read as Erdoğan's own answer in all but name. Nothing in the exchange suggested either side is interested in easing off.