Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday discussed Israel’s ongoing “genocide.” As Turkey’s Communications Directorate described it on Twitter: “President Erdogan highlighted the importance of the international community increasing pressure on Israel in the face of the crimes against humanity committed by Israel on the Palestinian territories, Gaza in particular.”
Financial Times correspondent in Turkey Adam Samson tweeted on October 30, three weeks after the Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israeli civilians, “This banner with anti-Semitic imagery was hung on a building adjacent to a major road in Turkey’s capital Ankara,” adding, “I’ve pixelated the swastika on upper-right.”
I’ve been debating whether to post this photo – but given what’s happened in Russia, I think it’s important to do so. This banner with anti-Semitic imagery was hung on a building adjacent to a major road in Turkey’s capital Ankara. I’ve pixelated the swastika on upper-right. pic.twitter.com/CIWkXqXPIZ
— Adam Samson (@adamsamson) October 30, 2023
Several hundred miles away, in Istanbul, according to the Financial Times, a shop sign issues a stark warning to Israel, along with the United States and Europe, proclaiming “You will drown in the blood you spill.” Meanwhile, demonstrators outside the city’s renowned Egyptian spice market raise banners demanding the “defeat” of the NATO alliance, of which Turkey is a participant.
Ankara has imposed a trade embargo on Israel, sought to join South Africa’s case in The Hague accusing Israel of genocide, and invited PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to address its parliament. Ankara has long hosted Hamas political operatives, and Erdogan hosted Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in April, comparing the murderous group to the “liberators” in Turkey’s fight for independence in the 1920s.
Erdogan does not hesitate to use the Holocaust against the victims of the Holocaust. He recently proclaimed, “Just as the names of those who applauded Hitler’s genocide speech at the Nazi Reichstag 85 years ago go down in history with shame, those who gave a standing ovation to Hitler Netanyahu’s lies will not be able to clean the black mark stuck to their hands.”
Adam Samson reported on Wednesday that this week, Turkish authorities apprehended over a dozen members of the nationalist Youth Union of Turkey following their assault on two US marines who were on shore leave in Izmir, a city known for its progressive orientation in western Turkey.
Samson noted that Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel after its establishment in 1948, but the relationship has been marked by frequent disputes. Ankara supported Arab demands for Israel to relinquish the territories it captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, and later downgraded diplomatic ties after Israel annexed East Jerusalem and declared the city its “eternal, undivided capital.” Turkey was also among the first nations to recognize Palestine as an independent state.
Besides his core antisemitism, Erdogan is revving up his anti-Israel propaganda to retain the support of his Islamist base. According to a July survey by Ankara-based Metropoll, fewer than 20% of the voters would back Erdogan’s AKP if parliamentary elections were held today. These are the worst results for the AKP since Erdogan co-founded it in 2002.
