Recep Erdogan: Turkey could fall into Israel's crosshairs News from Fakti.bg – World

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tayyip Erdoan yesterday joined the political chorus of speakers from the parliamentary rostrum warning of the danger of Turkey also being targeted by Israel. His speech sparked various comments, with many wondering whether there were real concerns behind the words of the president and his like-minded colleagues, or whether their focus was different, BTA writes.

“I tell you frankly, after Palestine and Lebanon, the Israeli government, which acts under the illusion of the Promised Land, will turn its gaze to the lands of our homeland with purely religious fanaticism,” Erdogan said. “Even if some people stubbornly refuse to see it, the government of Netanyahu (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) is building an impossible dream that includes Anatolia and pursues a utopia,” Erdogan said, as quoted by Hurriyet.

“I appeal to those who say that Turkey must be neutral, to those who say that Hamas is a terrorist organization; we are not facing a state, but a band of assassins who feed on blood” , he continued, once again comparing the Israeli Prime Minister to Hitler's minister.

According to renowned Turkish analyst Murat Yetkin, Erdogan's statement about Israel's “religious fanaticism” refers to the “theopolitical strategy of Benjamin Netanyahu's government.” In an analysis published on his “Yetkin Report” website, the journalist recalled a September 25 publication in the “Jerusalem Post” in which the question was asked whether Lebanon was part of Israel's Promised Land. The article was removed from the publication's website following international backlash, Yetkin said.

The narrative of the “Promised Land” and its borders has been taken up by other Turkish politicians in recent days. The President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Numan Kurtulmus, also warned yesterday of the risk of “Israeli aggression also targeting Turkey through Syria”, notes “Yeni Shafak”.

“It is clear that one of the ultimate goals of the 'Promised Land', from the Nile to the Euphrates, is Turkey,” the Turkish parliament speaker said.

Days earlier, Yigit Bulut, advisor to Turkish President Erdogan, also warned that Israel would attack Turkey, urging Turks to “open their eyes,” Turkish news site T24 wrote.

According to Bulut, who, in addition to being President Erdogan's top advisor, is also a member of the Presidency's Economic Policy Council, “Israel will soon attack the Al-Aqsa Mosque and other holy sites.”

“After that, as our president has repeatedly said, the target will be the homeland, Turkey,” Bulut stressed. “Please, let's open our eyes. 100 years ago, the West united and attacked the Turkish homeland, with Greece as a subcontractor. 100 years later, the same attack is coming! This times, the subcontractor is Israel,” the advisor added. and called “those who sleep to wake up”.

Turkish nationalist leader Devlet Bahceli, an ally of Erdogan, interpreted Israel's actions as a “message to Turkey.” In a speech to the parliamentary group of his Nationalist Action Party (PND), Bahceli said it was wrong to think that “the war would be limited to the Middle East.”

“The hunt will expand its reach and almost reach the borders of our homeland. It is impossible to deny that Israel's sabotage is a message to Turkey,” Bahçeli was quoted as saying by private television CNN-Turk.

“Is it Turkey’s turn?” – this question was asked in the headline of the pro-government newspaper “Sabah”. In his analysis of the subject, author Melih Altnok notes that even those who view Israel's actions as a natural response to the October 7 Hamas attack have doubts after Israel's entry into southern Lebanon.

Asking the question “where does Turkey fit into this (Israel's) plan”, Altnok asserted that Netanyahu's goal is to ensure regime change in regional countries through methods such as “l 'assassination, sabotage, military coups', in order to break the internal fronts of these countries.

“Israel is aware that its security depends on increased chaos in this geographic area, including our borders, whether you call it the Promised Land or the Nile-Euphrates buffer zone,” writes the author of “Sabah “.

Journalist Fatih Altayla, however, offers a different view on statements by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) wing that “Israel's next target could be Turkey.”

Altayl, quoted by the T24 website, believes that “without Turkey adopting an aggressive stance towards Israel, it is impossible for Israel to undertake such a thing.” The journalist recalled that before the Hamas attack, Prime Minister Netanyahu was a controversial figure in his own country and on the verge of losing his premiership.

But today, “while the country is at war and the capital is under fire from Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran, few people want a government crisis or the resignation of the Prime Minister”, Altaila commented. “Perhaps this is why it is convenient for the (Turkish) government to present Turkey as threatened by Israel. Who knows!” he added.