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Comments made by Tayyip Erdogan at a U.N. meeting in Vienna this week
Condemned by his Israeli counterpart and Ban Ki-moon
John Kerry found Mr Erdogan's remark 'objectionable'

 By Jill Reilly

PUBLISHED: 11:48 EST, 1 March 2013  | UPDATED: 11:48 EST, 1 March 2013
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International condemnation: Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been strongly criticised after branding Zionism 'a crime against humanity'

Turkey's prime minister, has been strongly criticised after branding Zionism 'a crime against humanity.'

Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a United Nationals forum this week: 'As with Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism, it is inevitable that Islamophobia be considered a crime against humanity.'

New U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to take Turkey's prime minister to task for the 'objectionable' comments during his visit to the country. 

Kerry, on his first trip to a Muslim nation since taking office, is meeting Turkish leaders for talks meant to focus on Syria's civil war and bilateral interests from energy security to counter-terrorism.

But comment by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at a U.N. meeting in Vienna this week, condemned by his Israeli counterpart, the White House and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has clouded his trip.

'This was particularly offensive, frankly, to call Zionism a crime against humanity ... It does have a corrosive effect (on relations),' a senior U.S. official told reporters as Kerry flew to Ankara.

'I am sure the secretary will be very clear about how dismayed we were to hear it,' the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said .