The Turkish president warned Israel against expanding Gaza operations as Israeli diplomats left Turkey amid ongoing demonstrations over the conflict in the territory.
October 21, 2023, Ezgi Akin, Al-Monitor.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Israel on Friday against a seemingly imminent ground invasion of Gaza as Israeli diplomats were evacuated from Turkey amid ongoing anti-Israel protests across the country.
“I reiterate our call on the Israeli government to never expand the scope of its attacks against civilians and to immediately cease its operations that amount to genocide,” Erdogan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. The warning comes as Israel is readying for a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Irit Lillian, Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, and other Israeli diplomats left the country late Thursday, according to multiple Turkish media outlets. Earlier, Israel’s National Security Council called on its nationals to leave the country “as soon as possible,” dispatching planes to repatriate its citizens after Turkish carriers suspended their flights to Israel.
The diplomats’ departure was a temporary measure amid ongoing protests in Turkey that have seen large crowds gathered outside Israeli diplomatic missions in Istanbul and Ankara, AFP said Wednesday, citing an unnamed source. The Jewish state also pulled out its diplomats from Jordan, Morocco and Bahrain over security concerns, according to Israeli media.
Protests continued in at least eight Turkish provinces on Friday as thousands took to the streets after Friday prayers. Some demonstrators in Ankara left children’s clothes and toys outside the Israeli Embassy in a show of solidarity with the Palestinian children who were killed in the conflict, Turkish media reported. In the country’s southeastern border province of Sanliurfa, which is home to a large number of Syrians, thousands rallied, chanting “Damn Israel” slogans.
Israelis and Palestinians blamed each other over the blast at Gaza’s al-Ahli Baptist Hospital late Tuesday that killed hundreds of civilians and sparked mass protests across Turkey and other regional Muslim-majority countries.
More than 4,000 Palestinians and at least 1,300 Israelis have been killed in the conflict so far.
Prominent cleric accuses Israel of « genocide »
Meanwhile, Ali Erbas, the head of Turkey’s state-run religious affairs directorate, led rare Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. “The world, bereft of mercy and a conscience, has been idly watching this genocide, while thousands of innocent people are dying,” Erbas intoned during his sermon dedicated to the conflict in Gaza.
Erdogan’s son-in-law Selcuk Bayraktar, chairman of BaykarTech, the manufacturer of Turkey’s internationally famed Bayraktar drones, also accused of Israel of “resorting to a genocide.”
Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the ensuing conflict between the militant group and the Jewish state comes amid a rapprochement between Turkey and Israel ties after more than a decade of antagonism.
Turkey and Israel mutually appointed ambassadors to their respective capitals last fall, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to visit Turkey this year. Tensions between the two countries stem from Israel’s repression of Palestinians and Turkey’s links with Hamas political wing.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan earlier this week said his country initiated talks with Hamas for the release of more than 200 hostages held by the militant group. The effort is particularly focused on third-country nationals and civilians, he said.
Backlash on Turkey?
Gallia Lindenstrauss, a senior research fellow at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies, said while the diplomats’ departure was linked to security concerns, Turkey’s ties with Hamas are likely to come under harsher Israeli scrutiny after the Oct. 7 attack. “For many years Turkey has claimed it had a moderating effect on Hamas, and one must ask whether this was possible from the beginning to moderate it,” she told Al-Monitor.
Unlike the United States and the United Kingdom, Turkey is known to have open channels with the group, has hosted some of its leaders on several occasions and does not recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Last July, Erdogan hosted a rare meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Turkey in an effort to reconcile the two sides.
“Clearly this policy has failed miserably, » she said.
Erdogan, who is a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, toned down his anti-Israel rhetoric in recent years as part of Turkey’s push to improve ties with its former rivals in the Middle East and the Gulf region. Unlike his previous vitriolic outbursts, Erdogan’s reaction to the latest escalation in Gaza has been quite restrained. Nonetheless, Lindenstrauss noted that “as time goes by, the tone becomes harsher and similar to the Turkish statements we heard in previous rounds of violence in Gaza.”