Turkish officials, including Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, condemned Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz for his latest provocation, threatening and insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In a message posted on X, Fidan said Katz is in a sick mental state, as he continuously targets Türkiye and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, instead of serving his duty as a foreign minister.
"The existence of this individual in the cabinet, who is completely obsessed with spitting slander and lies, represents the Netanyahu government’s monument of shame," Fidan said.
In a later message posted on X, Fidan pledged solidarity with President Erdoğan, saying that Ankara will not let any attempts to smear his love and immense contributions to Türkiye and the Turkish people.
"We will continue to work together for a strong and prosperous Türkiye," Fidan said.
Calling Katz a "murderer psychopath," Altun said Turkish people will continue to support Erdoğan in a more determined manner as he continues to carry out provocations.
"There is not a single thing that our president or country can learn from bloody genocidal murderers like you," Altun said and added that they will eventually be held accountable for their massacres and crimes against Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, whose name was included in Katz’s audacious message as a potential alternative to President Erdoğan, condemned Katz and slammed him for insulting the Turkish flag and the President of the Republic of Türkiye.
"We will not learn democracy and the law from people who have the blood of tens of thousands of children," Imamoğlu said and added:
"Yes, everything will be better when Palestine is free."
Since Oct. 7, Katz made it a habit to post provocative messages insulting President Erdoğan and Türkiye and recently threatened him by claiming that he followed in the footsteps of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and should remember what happened in Iraq.
Tensions between Israel and Türkiye have risen sharply since the start of the war in Gaza as Ankara has cut off commercial ties with Tel Aviv, with Erdoğan repeatedly trading barbs with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is accused of war crimes and genocide in Gaza.
Besides killing more than 39,000 Palestinians since October, the Israeli military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.
Israel is also accused of committing genocide in the besieged Palestinian enclave, and a case is continuing at the ICJ in The Hague, in which Türkiye is also a party against Israel.