The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has harshly attacked Israel during the large pro-Palestinian rally this Saturday in Istanbul before tens of thousands of people, in a speech where he accused the West of being the “main culprit of the massacre that is taking place in Gaza” and warned that his country is ready to “present Israel to the world as a war criminal.”
“Because Israel,” Erdogan insisted, “is committing war crimes”. The president, however, expressed his sympathies to the victims of the Hamas attack that sparked the conflict on October 7, and assured that his country “is saddened by the death of any civilian, but Israel does not care.”
“It is clear,” he continued regarding the Israeli response to the enclave, “that every country has the right to defend itself, but I wonder where justice is when there seems to be no defense other than a vicious and open massacre in Gaza.”
The president of Turkey then proceeded to applaud “the determination of the people of Gaza” in their firmness in remaining in their homes despite Israeli warnings for them to escape to the south amid a wave of airstrikes or , as the president has described, “bombings by the oppressors.”
Likewise, Erdogan also recalled the resolution approved last Friday by the UN General Assembly in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza, which he interpreted as a plebiscite on international opinion about Israel.. Supported by the 145 in favor that promoted the resolution, the president has assured that Israel is losing support to the point that it is in danger of ending up isolated.
“Israel, you are condemned to be left alone,” the president warned in his speech, reported by the Turkish news agency Anatolia, before dedicating a final blow to the Western community that “has mobilized its politicians and media to legitimize the massacre of innocent people in Gaza.
The Israeli response
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Eli Cohen, announced this Saturday the call for consultations of his diplomatic corps in Turkey to “reevaluate bilateral relations” in a decision taken shortly after the very harsh speech of the Turkish president.
Cohen announced the decision on his X account, formerly Twitter. “In the context of the harsh statements from Turkey,” he explained without mentioning Erdogan by name, “I have ordered the return of Turkey's diplomatic representatives to carry out a reassessment of relations between Israel and Turkey.”
The minister has not specified whether he will return all or part of his diplomatic mission to Israel after Erdogan's statements.
After this speech, Israel's Energy Minister, Israel Katz, denounced that Erdogan has shown “his true face”. “Muslim Brotherhood man supports Hamas and Islamic State terrorism. Not even his kufiya covers the shame,” Katz posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Muslim Brotherhood man supports Hamas and Islamic State terrorism
The Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, has highlighted that “a snake will always be a snake”. “He has tried to improve his image, but he is still an anti-Semite,” Erdan highlighted, according to Israeli Army Radio.
It should be remembered that the last major diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey occurred in 2010, when the Israeli Army killed ten activists in an assault on the 'Mavi Marmara' ship, which was part of the so-called Freedom Flotilla that was trying to circumvent the imposed blockade. against the Gaza Strip.
The situation continued until 2022, when Israel announced the full reestablishment of diplomatic relations and the appointment of ambassadors.