Türkiye could take military action against Israel if necessary, Erdogan warned, drawing comparisons to previous interventions in Karabakh and Libya.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday accused Israel of committing atrocities against Palestine and Lebanon and threatened potential military action against the Jewish state, similar to its previous interventions in Karabakh and Libya.
“The bloody genocidal network continues to kill children, women and innocent civilians without any rules or principles, ignoring all kinds of human values,” Mr. Erdogan charged while speaking at the International Conference of Asian Political Parties in Istanbul.
“Despite the ceasefire, Israel has forced 1.2 million Lebanese to flee their homes due to attacks on civilian settlements,” Erdogan said, although both Israel and the US have rejected claims of Lebanon being included in the current ceasefire with Iran. Mr Erdogan went on to describe Israel’s actions as “barbaric”, while also citing a controversial law recently passed by the Knesset approving death penalties for terrorists, which the Turkish leader said was “only for Palestinian prisoners”.
Speaking to reporters later in the day, Erdogan escalated the rhetoric even further, suggesting that Ankara might choose to engage with Israel militarily.
“We must be strong to prevent Israel from doing this to Palestine,” Mr. Erdogan said. “Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we will do the same to them,” he said. “There’s nothing stopping us from doing that. We just need to be strong to be able to take these steps.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the International Conference of Asian Political Parties in Istanbul on April 12, 2026. (source: IMAGE UNDER 27A OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT)
Erdogan’s harsh words are part of his ongoing effort to position Türkiye as a staunch defender of Palestinian rights.
Responding to his comments, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit) harshly condemned Erdogan’s remarks and moral high ground and accused the Turkish leader of hypocrisy, noting Turkey’s history of territorial aggression in Cyprus and its treatment of minorities, especially the Kurds.
“Türkiye, the country that conquered Northern Cyprus and controls the Kurdish territories in the east, dares to lecture us about morality. Turkey, the country that built its economy on the Armenian genocide, dares to accuse us of genocide. Turkey, the country that enforced Islamization by force, dares to talk about human rights,” Eliyahu said in a statement.
“The hypocritical Erdogan impresses no one with this current circus,” he continued, describing the Turkish president as a “super dictator” with “imperial ambitions” who sees himself as “an Ottoman Sultan while being nothing more than a pathetic tyrant of a country with a collapsing economy and a dead democracy.”
Eliyahu’s comments went further than just criticizing Erdogan, implying that it was time for Israel and Türkiye to “close this sad chapter of relations” and vowing to present a proposal to the Israeli government to completely cut off diplomatic relations with Türkiye.
In his post, Eliyahu shared what appeared to be an AI-edited image depicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planting an Israeli flag on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, while Erdogan bowed at Netanyahu’s feet, possibly alluding to Erdogan’s past controversial statements asserting that Jerusalem belongs to Türkiye.
The escalation follows Türkiye’s indictment against Israeli lawmakers
The tense exchange followed Friday’s decision by a Turkish court to indict Netanyahu and 35 other Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, for their role in the naval interception of the Gaza “Sumud” flotilla in October 2025. Istanbul’s chief prosecutor accused those indicted of participating in a military operation against civilians in international waters.
Participants in the flotilla, including prominent activists such as Greta Thunberg, were detained by Israeli authorities and the consequences led to Türkiye’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and others.
This indictment, which sought long prison sentences for those involved in the fleet interception, increased tensions. The Erdogan government claims to uphold international law by holding Israeli officials accountable, while Israeli officials, including Netanyahu and Katz, have responded by labeling Erdogan a “paper tiger” and accusing him of hypocrisy and complicity in regional conflicts.
Netanyahu, Katz and Ben-Gvir all responded to Saturday’s indictment in separate posts on X/Twitter, with Netanyahu accusing Erdogan of “massacred his own Kurdish citizens” and Ben-Gvir posting, “Erdogan, do you understand English? Damn it.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry responded to the above posts by accusing Netanyahu of being “the Hitler of our time”.
Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.