Israel’s foreign minister called for NATO to expel Turkey on Monday after President Tayyip Erdogan suggested his country might enter Israel, as it had previously entered Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh.
“In light of Turkish President Erdogan’s threats to invade Israel and his dangerous rhetoric, Foreign Minister Israel Katz instructed diplomats… to urgently engage with all NATO members, calling for the condemnation of Turkey and demanding its expulsion from the regional alliance,” the ministry said.
Erdogan, a vocal critic of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, stated in a speech on Sunday: “We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these ridiculous things to Palestine. Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we might do similar to them.”
In response on Monday, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said, “Erdogan is following in the footsteps of Saddam Hussein and threatening to attack Israel. He should remember what happened there and how it ended.”
“Turkey, which hosts the Hamas headquarters responsible for terrorist attacks against Israel, has become a member of the Iranian axis of evil, alongside Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen,” Katz added.
Once close regional allies, relations between Israel and Turkey have been deteriorating for more than a decade. Bilateral trade, despite many diplomatic storms, had reached billions of dollars annually, but Turkey recently announced it would halt all bilateral trade with Israel until the war ends and aid can flow unhindered into Gaza.
Source: Reuters.
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