Erdogan Escalates His Attack on Israel and Sees a Political Opening

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan escalated his harsh rhetoric against Israel again on Wednesday, and it appears to have set a new high in the intensity of his attacks. Alongside Israel, Erdogan also focused his criticism today on Greece, calling it “a small factor that rides on Israel’s boat of division.”

Erdogan’s remarks continue a broader line of rhetoric against Israel, Greece and Cyprus in recent months and years. They come on the heels of an unusual Turkish campaign this week against Cyprus and Greece, and at a moment of diplomatic tailwind ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s expected visit to the NATO summit in Ankara in the coming weeks.

“The harsh statements by Erdogan against Israel are not new, but each time there is an additional troubling dimension,” Dr. Galia Lindenstrauss, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University, told N12. “In recent years, Erdogan has, for example, moved from discourse condemning Israeli actions against the Palestinians to a discourse of delegitimization of Israel’s very existence.”

“What is especially worrying about the current statement is Turkey’s growing interest in what is happening in Lebanon,” Lindenstrauss continued. “If Ankara once had relatively marginal interest in developments there, today it directly links what is happening there to the Syrian arena and its interests there.”

Erdogan has traditionally tried to brand himself as the “protector of the Muslim world.” After pressuring Israel over Gaza and Syria, siding with Pakistan against India, and standing with Azerbaijan against Armenia and Russia, Erdogan is now not hesitating to try to gain a foothold in the Lebanese arena as well.

Erdogan attacked Israel today and claimed that “Israel’s attacks in Syria and Lebanon have reached a point where they threaten Turkey as well.” He also referred to the long-running tensions with Greece and Cyprus, and warned Athens not to try to make unilateral moves regarding the island and the Turkish presence in the area.

“Israel, under the current government, has become increasingly arrogant and has turned into a source of threat not only to the region but to all of humanity. Netanyahu’s attacks and those of his criminal network against Syria and Lebanon have reached a point where they threaten not only those two sister countries, but also Turkey,” he said.

“The current statement also underscores the growing connections between the Turkish-Greek confrontation and the Israeli-Turkish one,” Lindenstrauss continued. At the end of 2025, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides met in Israel with Prime Minister Netanyahu, in what strengthened the anti-Turkish alliance in the region.

Earlier this week, Turkish forces and officials carried out unusual and extraordinary actions. The government of Cyprus said Turkey disrupted and interfered with the aircraft of the defense ministers of Greece, France and the Netherlands while they were on their way to the EU defense ministers’ summit in Nicosia. In the case of the aircraft carrying Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias, the Cypriot government said Turkish fighter jets were also spotted in the area.

“We now see attempts to ignite a fire of division in the eastern Mediterranean, especially on the island of Cyprus, and we are following developments very closely. A few small actors, whose ambitions are far greater than their size, have boarded Israel’s boat of division, taken on the role of subcontractors for Zionism, and are allegedly chasing certain immature dreams in the eastern Mediterranean,” Erdogan said in an attack on Greece.

“I say this very clearly, no one should seek adventures. No one should be drawn into the Zionist network of slaughter. If there is harm to the rights and legitimate interests of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots in the eastern Mediterranean, I want them to know that our response will be very clear, and also very hard.”

There is also another angle to the background of Erdogan’s remarks today. Turkish journalist Ragip Soylu of Middle East Eye, who is considered knowledgeable about Erdogan’s thinking and conduct, wrote today: “Erdogan, aware of the widening disagreements between Trump and Netanyahu over Lebanon and Iran, is positioning himself perfectly politically and is launching a new wave of verbal attacks against the Israeli prime minister.”

Last week, Trump and members of his administration confirmed that he is expected to take part in the NATO summit to be held in Ankara in a month. The summit is considered especially important, against the backdrop of the United States’ distancing from and disengagement from Europe’s security, and after a series of steps to reduce the deployment of U.S. forces on the continent. Erdogan, for his part, sees Trump’s expected visit to Turkey as further approval and support for his rule.

Erdogan is arriving at the height of a successful period for him, both in domestic relations and in internal politics in Turkey. Just in the past month, he managed to successfully suppress the popular Turkish opposition leader Ozgur Ozel and appoint a controversial and unpopular replacement in his place. At first it seemed that the opposition in Turkey might unite and protest the move, but those hopes quickly faded and did not develop into large demonstrations.

Dr. Lindenstrauss concludes that “the fact that Trump has close relations with both Erdogan and Netanyahu should be used to request more significant U.S. involvement in calming the tensions, because Israel already has enough challenges at present, and the Turkish challenge, if Turkey really becomes an enemy state, is very significant.”