President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan embodied the voice of millions seeking action against Israel by hinting at intervening against what he described as a murderous regime, but Türkiye’s battle cry is simply this: a call to international unity.
“Not so fast!” “Why not?” “Yeah, but...” These were the reactions to Erdoğan’s recent remarks, which were interpreted as a threat of an invasion of Israel by certain media outlets, from Fox News to Israeli media.
The remarks of the Turkish president, who has always been candid about what he thought of the Israeli administration, were somewhat ambiguous. “Just as we entered Karabakh and Libya, we can do something similar to them,” Erdoğan said to fellow members of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) last week. Though Türkiye did not “enter” Karabakh, it openly supported Azerbaijan’s operations to take back the said territory illegally occupied by Armenians. As for Libya, Türkiye sent troops to support the North African country’s U.N.-backed administration. So, “invasion” has never been the case.
So, how should we interpret Erdoğan’s remarks? First of all, they demonstrate the anger of a man frustrated over international inaction to stop Israel, whose massacres targeting innocent Palestinians have claimed nearly 40,000 lives since last October Since then, Erdoğan has led Turkish efforts to stop Israel by diplomatic means, to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid for Palestinians and, more importantly, to bring sides to the table for a permanent, two-state solution to the decades-old conflict.
In return, Türkiye incurred the wrath of the Netanyahu administration, which was about to restore already severed ties with Ankara before the new round of the conflict began. This time, they did not play the “anti-Semitism” card like they did with their critics. Israeli officials, in turn, accused Türkiye of the “genocide” of Kurds and supporting Hamas, considered a liberation movement by Türkiye and those opposing Israel’s war crimes but labeled a bunch of terrorists by Tel Aviv. Erdoğan’s latest remarks allowed Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz to threaten Erdoğan by reminding him of the grim fate of Iraq’s ousted leader Saddam Hussein. Katz later urged NATO to expel Türkiye.
These developments show that a mere sentence implying intervention is enough to irk Israel and bring us to another interpretation of Erdoğan’s remarks. Sometimes, words speak louder than actions. Erdoğan apparently intends to highlight Türkiye’s determination to stand with Palestinians in the face of the West’s unflinching support of Israel’s war crimes and unite the rest of the international community around Türkiye to stand against the genocidal regime of Netanyahu. Indeed, Erdoğan said in the same speech that Türkiye needs to be strong so that Israel would not dare to do again what it already did in Palestine. Bear in mind that Erdoğan was the only leader in the region to openly criticize Israel’s policies toward Palestinians with his famous “one minute” confrontation in Davos in 2009 with Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Türkiye has never been an “invader” and under Erdoğan’s leadership, it has been a tireless advocate of diplomacy. As a matter of fact, it improved ties with countries it once came to the brink of war with, such as Greece, and even reached out to Egypt and Syria to normalize relations. As for the deployment of troops, it only acts in self-defense, such as in its military offensives in Syria and Iraq against the PKK terrorist group, the most immediate threat to Türkiye’s security. But make no mistake. It is also stronger than ever in terms of defense with a rapidly flourishing local defense industry.
Speaking of a stronger defense, it has never been needed more than now as Türkiye fears a spillover of the conflict Israel attempts to spearhead into the wider Middle East. Tensions between Israel and Lebanon proved it right and if the conflict goes beyond that, Türkiye will be among the most affected countries.
Right now, military intervention in Israel is a dream of a restless public lamenting daily massacres. Social media users already share illustrations of Erdoğan leading Turkish troops into Israel and public support for the Palestinian cause never waned as proven by countless demonstrations by activists across Türkiye since Oct. 7 against Israel’s crimes. Erdoğan’s statements undoubtedly dispelled the desperation and comforted those feeling that the world will forever remain silent in the face of the genocide of women and children in Palestine.
Can Türkiye dare challenge the murderous regime in Tel Aviv, which counts as a superpower, and most of Europe among its allies? The answer is not a clear no. Challenging Israel militarily needs a united front and once those Türkiye seeks to mobilize exhibit an iota of unity, even a warning to the Netanyahu administration will be sufficient to put fear in the hearts of his War Cabinet. There is always hope, and even the recognition of the State of Palestine by several European countries constitutes a step toward that unity.
