Turkey’s president seems to have issued a potential intervention threat in Gaza during an impassioned speech at a pro-Palestine rally held this evening.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed a rally in an afternoon speech where he placed the blame for war crimes on Israel, portraying Hamas as “freedom fighters.”
These comments have sparked outrage from Israel, leading to the withdrawal of its diplomatic representation, as President Erdogan implied that the attacks on Gaza amounted to a “massacre.”
Within the same address, he seemed to suggest that Turkey could make an unexpected appearance at night, drawing enthusiastic cheers from hundreds of thousands of attendees.
Footage of the speech, currently circulating on the X platform, allegedly depicts the pro-Palestine crowd chanting “Turkish military to Gaza” in response.
Online footage shared by the news aggregator Visegrád 24 showed President Erdogan delivering his speech in Turkish, while thousands of individuals waved a mix of Turkish and Palestinian flags at the Istanbul venue during the Great Palestine meeting.
The account provided an earlier translation, and the video has since been widely shared on various online platforms.
The Politics Today news site also offered a translation of the speech, interpreting his statement as part of a “motto.”
According to their report, Erdogan stated, “From now on, we will continue on our path with the motto that we may suddenly knock on your door one night.”
During the same speech, President Erdogan accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza, drawing a parallel between their actions and the Nazi Holocaust against the Jewish population.
He asserted that Israel had been “openly committing war crimes for 22 days” and claimed that a “similar mentality” was being displayed as during World War Two towards Axis members.
He remarked, “In the past, they were massacring the Jewish people in the gas chambers and they were indeed wiping out whole regions with bombs.” Erdogan further added, “A similar mentality is being shown in Gaza today.”
In response to Israel’s actions, Erdogan conveyed his government’s intention to “inform the entire world that Israel is a war criminal.”
This speech did not sit well with Israeli officials, leading to a swift response in the form of the withdrawal of diplomatic staff from Turkey.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, in a statement, expressed that the statements from Turkey had compelled him to “re-evaluate the relations between Israel and Turkey.”
He stated, “Given the grave statements coming from Turkey, I have ordered the return of diplomatic representatives there to re-evaluate the relations between Israel and Turkey.”
Go ahead, Recep — make my day!
If anyone has wondered why this pro-Hamas scion of the Muslim Brotherhood continues to be in NATO, I dare say it is this:
If an NATO member (Turkey) attacks someone (Iraq, Syria, Cyprus, Israel? for example), fellow NATO allies are forbidden to retaliate; and if a non-NATO ally such as Israel retaliates, Turkey can call upon NATO to attack THEM.
There are snakes in the world, and even lower creatures… and then there is Erdogan.
As an interested bystander, these words by Erdogan are quite worrying, although not surprising. Erdogan is a loose cannon, and causes trouble wherever he sticks his nose. It seems that he goes out of his way to cause chaos for everyone. He has stabbed his good buddy Putin in the back a couple of times, now he’s going to make trouble for the US/NATO. I think he does this just to show everyone that he is “important”. Of course he has been in bed with Hamas for quite sometime, (because he is a radical Islamist), so this latest saber-rattling should probably have been expected. He really needs to be “regime-changed”.
What conspiracy theorist wrote this!! Only religious fanatics like Michael S believe Turkey will ally with Iran, Sudan and Egypt against Israel, while the US and Saudi are caught with their heads up their butts (Ezekiel 38-39)
Every dictator needs a straw man.
Almost funny when Erdogan – a NATO member – goes to war vs Israel ; he hopes that the whole NATO would be compelled to follow his idiotic strategy . The guy has no place within NATO. Incirlik US base should be transferred to Cyprus .
Erdogan has poisoned Turkish society with intense antisemitism and anti-Zionism.
Burak Bekdil writes about Erdogan’s posturing here:
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20046/israel-turkey-jihad
“The “final solution,” Erdo?an said, unwittingly, it seems, using Hitler’s term, “is the foundation of an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem its capital and Israel retreating to pre-1967 borders.” Why not ask Israel to withdraw to its pre-Babylonian borders?
“Our Brothers in the Gaza Strip have been heavily bombarded in the past couple of days,” Erdo?an said. Really, Mr. Erdo?an, now why is that? What would your military do if terrorists bombarded Turkey’s civilians with thousands of rockets?
“This is not a war,” Erdo?an went on.
“This is massacre [committed by Israel] … This is about premeditated murder of civilians… These are disproportionate attacks on Gaza lacking any moral basis.”
Er, what about the moral basis of Hamas beheading babies then posting the videos online?
“Erdo?an, finally, in what might be the laugh of the century, said he would like to play the honest broker between Israel and Hamas. Why not have Iran mediating between Israel and Hamas, or Greece mediating between Turkey and Cyprus, or Belarus mediating between Russia and Ukraine…?”
Apparently Erdogan also thinks he can be a NATO member when and if he pleases, and an ally of Russia, Iran, and Hamas when he pleases also.
His army would be a significant threat if he decided to direct it against Israel. But how would Turkey, as a NATO member, explain it to the US or NATO if he went to war against a US ally?