Speaking to Sky News Arabia, observers and experts in international relations believe that the expansion of the war launched by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip has affected the current path of normalization between Turkey and Israel, as it is expected to take a longer period of time than it was before the outbreak of the conflict between them. Israel and Hamas, but they stressed that the military and economic interests between the two sides would not reach the point of estrangement.
What did Erdogan say?
- Successively and in recent days, the Turkish President escalated his rhetoric regarding developments in the situation in Gaza, as he said in a gathering that included hundreds of thousands of his supporters in Istanbul, on Saturday, that his country “is making the necessary preparations to declare Israel a war criminal before the world.”
- Erdogan explained that Israel was disturbed by his statement that Hamas is not a terrorist movement, adding: “We criticize Israel because we are not beholden to it, unlike Western countries.”
- He pointed out that “everyone knows that Israel is nothing but a pawn in the region that will be sacrificed when the time comes.”
- He added, “Of course every country has the right to defend itself, but where is the justice? What is happening in Gaza is not self-defense but a massacre. The Israeli bombing operations that intensified on Friday evening in Gaza once again targeted women, children and innocent civilians and deepened the current humanitarian crisis.”
- He continued, addressing Western countries: “Those who were shedding crocodile tears for civilians in the Ukraine war, today are watching in complete silence the killing of thousands of civilians in Gaza.”
- The position of the Turkish President is more severe than in the first days of the Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli response, as observers described the position of the Turkish administration at this time as taking the path of “cautious balance” in diplomatic moves to resolve the crisis and trying to play the role of mediator, without incurring political losses from its positions. , especially because of its desire not to jeopardize the progress of its relationship with Tel Aviv, and at the same time maintain support for the Palestinian cause.
- But that did not last long, as the matter quickly turned into sharp criticism of the Israeli side, and measures were taken on the ground, including Erdogan canceling his visit plans to Tel Aviv, saying: “We had a plan to visit Israel, but it was cancelled, we will not go… I shook hands with this man ( “Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, we had good intentions, but he took advantage of them.”
The Israeli military operation came at a time when Turkey was working to repair its relations with Israel after years of estrangement.
Israel’s reaction
Hours after Erdogan’s statements on Saturday, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said that his country’s government had ordered the return of diplomatic representatives from Turkey.
The Israeli Foreign Minister said on his account on the “X” platform: “In light of the harsh Turkish statements, I ordered the return of diplomatic representatives from Turkey in order to re-evaluate Israeli-Turkish relations.”
Tel Aviv had also previously rejected statements by the Turkish President in which he considered Hamas “not a terrorist organization,” as Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Hayat wrote on X: “Israel strongly rejects the harsh words of the Turkish President regarding the Hamas terrorist organization.”
He added, “Even the Turkish president’s attempt to defend the terrorist organization and his inflammatory words will not change the atrocities witnessed by the entire world.”
While Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Wednesday: “I heard what Erdogan said… Hamas is worse than being a terrorist organization.”
The Turkish position has changed
For his part, Karam Saeed, an expert specializing in Turkish affairs, explained in statements to Sky News Arabia that the Turkish discourse regarding the development of the situation in the Gaza Strip has witnessed a shift, while Turkey was initially keen to adopt a balanced discourse and declare its readiness to In a mediating role between the two sides of the conflict, the escalation of Israeli bombing prompted Ankara to change its rhetoric and adopt more stringent language towards Israel.
Saeed pointed out that Erdogan’s speech is mainly linked to anger within Turkey itself, especially from supporters of his Justice and Development Party, and therefore there is internal public opinion pressuring his government to take this approach and strengthen its presence again in the Turkish street.
However, the expert specializing in Turkish affairs believes that “this speech does not reach the height of extremism. In the end, there is a Turkish keenness to secure interests with the Israeli side, especially with regard to the energy sector and economic interests.”
Evaluating relationships
Saeed pointed out that Turkey’s escalating rhetoric towards Israel will have repercussions and impact on the position of relations between the two countries, but it will not reach the point of estrangement, as tension will be the most prominent headline at that stage, despite the Israeli diplomatic mission leaving Ankara hours ago.
He stressed that the impact of this dispute may cause a delay in the implementation of some energy projects and at the level of political and security coordination, but in the end there is a common concern between Turkey and Israel that the relationship does not return to what it was before 2010.
Normalization path
This is what the expert at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Bashir Abdel Fattah, indicated in statements to “Sky News Arabia,” that the path of normalization will be affected “temporarily” as a result of the escalation in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, but it will not end at all.
Abdel Fattah said, “The relations between Turkey and Israel are greater than any statements, because they were born under American sponsorship and Washington will not allow them to deteriorate or collapse. There is also room for freedom of movement for each party to show independence or a sharp position, but without affecting the future of relations.”
The expert specializing in Turkish affairs stressed that despite the current media rivalry between Ankara and Tel Aviv, “intelligence, military and economic relations are proceeding regularly,” given that the peculiarity of Turkish-Israeli relations is that they separate media statements from the actual course of relations.
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