Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke Wednesday during a trip to South Africa. His comments were carried by Turkey’s Anatolia news agency.

Israel refuses to confirm whether it has a nuclear weapon, following a policy it terms “nuclear ambiguity,” but it is widely considered to be the Mideast’s only nuclear power.

Turkish-Israeli ties have deteriorated over Israel’s refusal to apologize for the deaths of nine Turkish activists in a raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship last year, prompting Turkey to downgrade relations.

Israel says its troops acted in self-defense.