By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ANKARA/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Wednesday that Turkey has cut its ties with the State of Israel, marking a sharp escalation in diplomatic tensions between the two nations.
“We have cut trade and ties with Israel, period,” Erdoğan said in remarks to Turkish media.
However, Israeli officials in Jerusalem said they were unaware of the diplomatic status change.
While Turkey recalled its ambassador from Israel “in protest of the Gaza War,” the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv is still operating, Israeli sources said.
Erdoğan spoke to reporters aboard his plane following recent visits to Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan.
The Turkey’s leader stressed his condemnation of what he called “genocide” by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon.
ISRAEL DENIES
Israel’s government has vehemently denied committing atrocities, saying it is fighting Iran’s proxies, such as Hamas, after the group killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7 last year.
However, Erdoğan said there was “an urgent need” for humanitarian aid and an immediate ceasefire. “As you know, intense efforts are being made to keep the pressure on Israel alive and to take coercive measures against this country based on international law,” he added.
The Turkish president has been among Israel’s harshest critics before and after last year’s Hamas massacre, described as “the worst atrocity against Jews since the Holocaust,” or Shoah.
He refused to condemn the Hamas atrocities against Israeli civilians and instead lashed out at Israel for its war against Hamas in Gaza.
In March, Erdoğan emphasized Turkey’s strong ties with Hamas, which he refuses to recognize as a “terrorist organization.”
“Turkey is a country that speaks openly with Hamas leaders and firmly backs them. No one can make us qualify Hamas as a terrorist organization,” he said
HITLER COMPARISON
The Turkish president has also compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler who ordered the murder of six million Jews.
“Netanyahu and his administration, with their crimes against humanity in Gaza, are writing their names next to Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin, like today’s Nazis,” Erdoğan claimed.
In May, the Turkish leader escalated his rhetoric by calling Netanyahu a “vampire” and said the State of Israel was a threat to “all of humanity.”
He also announced that Turkey would halt all commercial trade with the Jewish state. Former Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz strongly condemned Erdoğan, accusing him of undermining both Israeli and Turkish traders.
“Erdoğan crossed a line and blocked ports for Israeli exports and imports,” Katz complained.
“This is how a dictator behaves – trampling on the interests of the Turkish people and businessmen and ignoring international trade agreements,” he argued.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
A new anti-conversion law in India’s Chhattisgarh state is drawing sharp criticism from Christian leaders and human rights advocates, who warn it could intensify persecution against religious minorities.
Israel will expand its buffer zone in southern Lebanon while continuing military operations against Hezbollah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday, following a security cabinet meeting that ended without a ceasefire agreement.
The United States Senate has voted down multiple resolutions aimed at halting U.S. weapons sales to Israel, but the votes revealed a notable shift within the Democratic Party, where support for such measures has surged in recent years.
House Democrats are preparing to introduce five articles of impeachment against War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, intensifying political divisions in Washington over the Trump administration’s military campaign against Iran.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a historic battlefield milestone this week, declaring that Ukrainian forces successfully captured a Russian position using only unmanned robotic systems—marking what he described as a first in modern warfare.
Iran secretly deployed a Chinese-built surveillance satellite to monitor U.S. military bases across the Middle East during the recent conflict, significantly enhancing its targeting capabilities, according to a new investigation by the Financial Times.
U.S. President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that the United States will not agree to any peace deal with Iran unless Tehran fully abandons its nuclear ambitions, reinforcing a hardline stance as diplomatic efforts continue amid rising regional tensions.