Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for the creation of a broad alliance of Islamic countries to tackle a perceived “threat of expansionism” coming from Israel.
Erdogan made his remarks on Saturday while speaking at an Islamic schools’ association event outside Istanbul.
“The only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, Israeli banditry, and Israeli state terrorism is the alliance of Islamic countries,” Erdogan claimed. Ankara has already taken steps aimed at “forming a line of solidarity against the growing threat of expansionism” lately, namely through seeking to fix ties with Syria and Egypt, he noted.
The president accused Israel of seeking a large Middle East war to conquer and occupy more of the region. He praised the Palestinian militant group Hamas, stating it has been fighting Israel “on behalf of Muslims” and “defending Islamic lands,” including Türkiye.
“Israel will not stop in Gaza. If Israel continues in such a manner, it will set its sights elsewhere after occupying Ramallah. The turn will come for other countries in the region. It will come for Lebanon, Syria. They will set their eyes on our homeland between the Tigris and Euphrates,” Erdorgan also asserted.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz was quick to dismiss the allegations of stoking a broader Middle East conflict, branding it “a dangerous lie and incitement” and insisting the country has only been defending itself from “the murderers and rapists of Hamas,” as well as “from the Shiite axis of evil led by Iran.”
“Erdogan continues to throw the Turkish people into the fire of hatred and violence for the sake of his Hamas friends,” Katz wrote in a post on X.
The Turkish president has long fancied himself as a major protector of the Palestinians, making increasingly hostile statements aimed at West Jerusalem amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas that has been dragging on since the October 7 surprise attack by the Palestinian group.
Back in July, Erdogan even threatened to outright invade Israel over the Gaza conflict, while West Jerusalem warned Türkiye’s leader could ultimately end up as Saddam Hussein, were he to continue with such rhetoric.