Erdogan escalates his attacks on Israel and sees a political opening

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan escalated his hostile rhetoric against Israel again on Wednesday, appearing to set a new high mark for the intensity of his attacks on Israel. Alongside Israel, Erdogan also focused his attacks today on Greece, calling it “a small factor that gets 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 offensive this week against Cyprus and Greece, and at the peak of a favorable diplomatic moment for him ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s expected visit to the NATO summit in Ankara in the coming weeks.

“The sharp statements by Erdogan against Israel are not new, but each time they are accompanied by a new and worrying 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 moved, for example, from a discourse condemning Israeli actions against the Palestinians to a discourse of delegitimization of Israel’s very existence.”

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

Erdogan has traditionally tried to brand himself as the “guardian of the Islamic world.” After pressuring Israel over Gaza and Syria, standing with Pakistan against India, and siding with Azerbaijan against Armenia and Russia, Erdogan is now not hesitating to try to gain a foothold in the Lebanon 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 humanity as a whole. The attacks by Netanyahu and his crime network against Syria and Lebanon have reached a point where they threaten not only those two sister countries, but Turkey as well,” 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 Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides met in Israel with Prime Minister Netanyahu, in a move that strengthened and solidified the anti-Turkish alliance in the region.

Earlier this week, Turkish forces and officials carried out unusual actions. The government of Cyprus said that Turkey disrupted and interfered with the flights 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 plane carrying Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias, the Cypriot government said Turkish fighter jets were also spotted in the area.

“Now we see that attempts are being made to ignite the fire of division in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially on the island of Cyprus, and we are following developments very closely. Several small actors, whose ambitions are far greater than their size, have climbed aboard Israel’s boat of division, taken on the role of subcontractors for Zionism, and are supposedly pursuing certain immature dreams in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Erdogan attacked Greece.

“I say this very clearly: no one should look for adventure. 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 very tough as well.”

There is also another angle to the background of Erdogan’s remarks today. Turkish journalist Ragip Soylu, who writes for Middle East Eye and is considered familiar with Erdogan’s way of 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 U.S. steps to distance itself from Europe’s security and after a series of moves to reduce the deployment of American forces on the continent. Erdogan, for his part, sees Trump’s expected visit to Turkey as further endorsement 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 last month he successfully suppressed the popular Turkish opposition leader Ozgur Ozel and appointed in his place a controversial and unpopular replacement. 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 “it is necessary to take advantage of the fact that Trump has close relations both with Erdogan and with Netanyahu and to seek 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.”