ANKARA — Turkey remains defiant in the face of Israel’s diplomatic protest of comments made by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cursing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Turkey will continue to speak the truth, and bring the indescribable persecution of the Palestinian people to the global agenda,” Turkish Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Oncu Keceli said in a statement on Friday.
Earlier Friday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry had summoned Turkey’s number two diplomat in the country to protest Erdogan’s criticism of Netanyahu.
In a fresh attack on the Israeli prime minister over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Erdogan told the crowd gathered at an election rally in central Anatolia on Thursday, “I’m leaving the person called Netanyahu in the Lord’s hands.” He then added, “May the Lord damn him.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that Turkey's charges d'affaires, Mehmet Sekerci, had been summoned to the ministry on his instructions to “convey a clear message to Erdogan."
“There is no God who will listen to those who support the atrocities and crimes against humanity committed by your barbaric Hamas friends,” Katz posted on the social media platform X. “Be quiet and shame on you!”
Speaking at additional rallies on Friday ahead of nationwide local polls on Sunday, Erdogan refrained from repeating his earlier statement, as of this writing, but Keceli said on Friday that Israel "targeted President Erdogan for speaking the entire truth.”
“The crimes committed by Israel in Gaza over the past six months can no longer be hidden. And Israel is on trial for genocide," he said.
Turkish-Israeli reconciliation in tatters
The tete-a-tete marks a fresh escalation between the two regional powers, with the war in Gaza leaving a nascent Turkish-Israeli detente in tatters.
Erdogan, ditching his initial cautious tone on the heels of Hamas' Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel, later that month unleashed a series of scathing attacks on the Jewish state amid an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. In light of Erdogan's increasingly critical tone, Israel announced in late October that it was reassessing diplomatic ties with Turkey.
The move prompted the Turkish government to recall its ambassador to Israel in November, roughly 10 months after he had taken up the post, which had remained empty for four years due to disagreements between the two countries.
The Gaza war put Erdogan in a tight spot, between a desire to mend fences with its Eastern Mediterranean neighbor and the staunch support of the Palestinian cause among the Turkish leader’s voter base.
Despite Erdogan’s almost daily verbal attacks against Israel and derailed diplomatic ties, the Turkish leader is still under pressure to cut trade ties with Israel.
He has even come under fire over the issue by his ruling Justice and Development Party's coalition partners. On Friday, Fatih Erbakan, leader of New Welfare, a tiny Islamist party that defied calls from the AKP and fielded its own candidate in the race for Istanbul's mayoral office in the upcoming elections — hit out at Turkey's ongoing trade relations with Israel.
"They are telling us that 'we're losing because of New Welfare Party.' It's not us who make you lose, it's you continuing trade with Israel," Erbakan said at an election rally in the southeast.
Mazlumder, a civic group close to Turkey's conservatives, filed criminal complaints earlier this month against Turkish businessmen who are trading with Israel.
Turkey's exports to Israel stood at $1.1 billion during October–December 2023, according to official data, representing a slight decrease from the same period the previous year.
Ankara does not consider Hamas a terror organization, and the group’s political leaders divide their time between Turkey and Qatar, where they are based. Nearly 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, which began after the militant group’s unprecedented attack inside Israel left at least 1,200 people dead. The militants also took more than 250 people hostage, including toddlers and babies, some of whom remain in captivity in Gaza.
