Harsh words were replaced with pleasant exchanges and politicians who would not normally stand side by side shook hands. A reception at Parliament on Tuesday on the occasion of the new session of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) signaled a new phase in "normalization" in Turkish politics after the March 31 municipal elections. But it had more to do with the display of unity President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had called for as he warned Türkiye may be the next target of Israel amid escalating conflict in the region.

"We are entering a new era. If we want peace in the world, we should maintain peace in our country too," Devlet Bahçeli, head of the government’s ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), was quoted by the Turkish media. Shortly before his remarks, Bahçeli shook hands with a leader and prominent names of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), which is a fierce opponent of the MHP, as lawmakers were leaving for the reception after the reopening of the Parliament. Likewise, Bahçeli had no kind words for the DEM Party in the past, even calling for its closure for its links to the PKK terrorist group. Tuncer Bakırhan, co-chair of the DEM Party, with whom Bahçeli shook hands first, told reporters that it was "something to be supposed in Parliament." "People were apparently surprised because they had not seen it before, as there was no ground for dialogue in Parliament," he said.

Indeed, the Parliament ended a brief return from summer recess last month with a brawl between lawmakers.

Bahçeli, who castigated the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in a speech hours before the reception, had nothing but nice words to say to him when the two met at the reception. "I presume we are not offending each other?" a beaming Bahçeli told CHP Chair Özgür Özel as they shook hands. "Sometimes, we say things needed to be said in a political context," he said. Özel responded no. "What matters is that we advocate what is right for us. We should stick to mutual respect and love," he told Bahçeli. Özel was one of the sides of "climate change" in Turkish politics where party leaders often trade barbs in their weekly speeches and rarely find common ground in national or international matters. Özel and President Erdoğan met at least twice and came together in several events since the March elections, a rarity in the political landscape of the country.

Earlier on Tuesday, President Erdoğan warned that Israel would eventually set its sights on Türkiye as it expands the conflict that began in Gaza. "This is something to be treated seriously," Özel told reporters when asked about his comments on Erdoğan’s remarks. "Parliament should hold a closed session to discuss this threat," Özel stated. As politicians were speaking to journalists, Iran fired a barrage of missiles on Iran, and generals of the Turkish Armed Forces who were attending the reception at Parliament scrambled and left.

"Eighty-five million people here in Türkiye should keep our internal front strengthened against attempts of strife," Erdoğan told Parliament’s new session on Tuesday.

"We have to find fields of compromise, not conflicts in the face of Israeli aggression. As long as Israel threatens the region, Türkiye will remain constructive, reconciling, uniting for the security of our nation and people in the region," Erdoğan has stated.

The People’s Alliance, led by Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the MHP, has rarely found a common stance with the opposition, especially the CHP, on a wide array of issues. But the Palestinian-Israeli conflict united them and others. This unity manifested itself when Parliament adopted a motion condemning Israel’s Rafah offensive in May and again when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the Parliament in August, where he drew praise from all parties.