The tumultuous relationship between Israel and Turkey is heading for more turbulence as recent developments in Syria pitch the two countries against each other in what has the potential of developing into a direct armed confrontation. On Wednesday, tens of thousands of people demonstrated against Israel in Istanbul, expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza after almost a year and a half of a bloody war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has led Turkish anti-Israeli sentiment for years.
The war, which began with a surprise offensive by Hamas on the 7th of October, 2023, evolved into a larger regional war involving multiple fronts and changing the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East. Turkey has been at odds with Israel in the past, during previous confrontations it has had with Hamas. This time was different.“Erdogan thought this war was just another round of violence,” Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, an expert on Turkey from the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, told The Media Line. “But after a few weeks, he realized Israel was waging an all-out war on Hamas. Erdogan, who is deeply influenced by the same Muslim Brotherhood ideology as Hamas, began to deteriorate the relationship with Israel.” (Read More)
