“Identifies a political opportunity”: Erdogan’s attack reaches its peak

The news in brief:

• The President of Turkey threatened that Israel’s actions in Lebanon endanger Turkey itself.
• Erdogan also launched a scathing attack on Greece regarding the situation in Cyprus.
• Dr. Galia Lindenstrauss from the INSS: “The statements are not new, but a new worrying aspect has been added to them.”
• Erdogan draws confidence from Trump’s expected visit to Turkey, and from the successes in the domestic arena.
• This week, Turkey carried out an unusual attack on Greece and Cyprus.
  

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today (Wednesday) once again escalated his violent rhetoric and attacks against Israel, and it seems that a new record has been broken in the nature and level of his attacks against Israel. On Israel’s side, Erdogan focused his attacks today on Greece, calling it “a small factor that is boarding Israel’s boat of division.”

Erdogan’s words continue a broad rhetoric against Israel, Greece and Cyprus in recent months and years. It joins Turkey’s unusual attack this week against Cyprus and Greece, and comes at the height of a diplomatic boost it is receiving ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the NATO summit in Ankara in the coming weeks.

“Erdoğan’s harsh statements against Israel are not new, but each time a new worrying aspect is added to them,” she tells N12 Dr. Galia Lindenstrauss, senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University. “Erdoğan has moved in recent years, for example, from a preacher who condemns Israeli actions against the Palestinians – to a discourse of delegitimization towards the very existence of Israel.”

“What is particularly worrying about the current statement is Turkey’s growing interest in what is happening in Lebanon,” continues Dr. Lindenstrauss. “If Ankara was once an actor with a relatively marginal interest in what is happening in Lebanon, today it is linking what is happening there directly to the Syrian arena and its interests there.”

Erdogan traditionally tries to brand himself as the “defender of the Islamic world”. After he put pressure on Israel in Gaza and Syria, sided with Pakistan against India and sided with Azerbaijan against Armenia and Russia, now Erdogan does not hesitate to try and gain a foothold in the Lebanese arena as well.

 

The attacks by Netanyahu and his criminal network against Syria and Lebanon have reached the point where they threaten not only these two sister countries, but also Turkey

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Erdogan attacked Israel today and accused that “Israel’s attacks in Syria and Lebanon have reached the point where they threaten Turkey as well.” Erdogan also referred to the prolonged tensions with Greece and Cyprus, and threatened Athens if it did not try to carry out hijackings in relation to the island and the Turkish presence in the region.

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

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

Earlier this week, Turkish forces and elements carried out unusual and unusual actions. The Cypriot government announced that Turkey disrupted and interfered with the planes of the defense ministers of Greece, France and the Netherlands while they were on their way to the European Union defense ministers’ summit in Nicosia. In the case of the plane of the Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dandias, the Cypriot government announced that Turkish fighter jets were also seen in the area.

“Now we see that they are trying to ignite a fire of division in the Eastern Mediterranean, and especially on the island of Cyprus, and we are following the developments very closely. Some small parties, whose ambitions are far greater than their size, have boarded Israel’s boat of division, assumed the role of subcontractors of Zionism, and are, as it were, chasing certain immature dreams in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Erdogan attacked Greece.

“I say this very clearly: that no one will seek adventure. That no one will be dragged after the Zionist massacre network. If there is a violation of the rights and legal interests of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean – I want them to know that our answer will be very clear, and also very hard.”

There is also another angle to the background of Erdogan’s words today. Recep Soylu, a Turkish journalist on the site Middle East Eye Considered to be well versed in Erdoğan’s ways of thinking and conduct, he wrote today: “Erdoğan, who is aware of the widening differences of opinion between Trump and Netanyahu regarding Lebanon and Iran, is positioning himself perfectly politically and today is launching a new wave of verbal attacks against the Prime Minister of Israel.”.

Last week, Trump and members of his administration confirmed that he is expected to participate in the NATO summit that will be held in Ankara in a month. This summit is considered particularly important, against the background of the steps taken by the US to distance itself from European security, and after a series of steps to reduce the deployment of American forces on the continent. For his part, Erdogan sees Trump’s expected visit to Turkey as further confirmation and support for his rule.

Erdogan arrives at the peak of a successful period for him, both in the field of internal relations and in the field of internal politics in Turkey. Only in the last month he was able to successfully suppress the popular Turkish opposition leader Ozgur Ozul, and appoint a controversial and unpopular replacement in his place. If at first it seemed that the opposition in Turkey might unite and protest against the move, these hopes were quickly dashed and did not mature into large demonstrations.

 

If there is a violation of the rights and legal interests of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean – I want them to know that our answer will be very clear, and also very difficult

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Dr. Lindenstrauss concludes by saying that “one should take advantage of the fact that Trump has close relations with both Erdogan and Netanyahu and request a more significant involvement of the US in calming tensions because Israel already has enough challenges at the present time and the Turkish challenge, if Turkey really becomes an enemy state, is very significant.”