US Secretary of State John Kerry is to raise concerns directly with the Turkish Prime Minister for saying that Zionism is a “crime against humanity” on par with antisemitism and fascism, Reuters has reported.

Speaking at a United Nations event in Vienna on Wednesday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about the discrimination faced by Muslims, then went on to say: “We should be striving to better understand the culture and beliefs of others, but instead we see that people act based on prejudice and exclude others and despise them.”

He continued: “And that is why it is necessary that we must consider — just like Zionism or antisemitism or fascism — Islamophobia as a crime against humanity.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned what he called the “dark and false statement”.

Mr Kerry is currently in Turkey’s capital, Ankara , to discuss the crisis in Syria with Turkish leaders.