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
The Israel Defense Forces carried out airstrikes Sunday on a site in southern Lebanon that the Lebanese Army had previously declared free of Hezbollah activity, Israeli officials said, citing intelligence assessments that contradicted Beirut’s findings.
The Iranian regime is accused of killing hundreds of protesters over the weekend in what human-rights groups describe as one of the bloodiest crackdowns in the Islamic Republic’s history, even as U.S. President Donald Trump weighs a range of potential U.S. responses that reportedly include precision military strikes, cyber warfare, and expanded sanctions.
Deadly clashes between Syrian government forces and Kurdish-led fighters in the northern city of Aleppo have coincided with separate U.S. military strikes elsewhere in Syria, heightening fears of renewed instability in a country still struggling to stabilize after years of war.
Lawmakers introduced a bipartisan proposal to cap annual deficits at 3% of GDP, but this resolution would still permit spending beyond annual revenue.
Assaults against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are up 1,300%, vehicular attacks are up 3,200% and death threats are up 8,000%, the Department of Homeland Security said after a U.S. citizen was shot and killed
Energy advocates have been warning against green energy demands driving up prices across the country. As anti-oil and gas activists seek legal pathways to straddle the energy industry, U.S. companies are making less effective products at higher prices to comply with demands while customers suffer, industry insiders argue.
The weekend congress of Hungary’s long-ruling Fidesz party ended with a cliffhanger after its leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said the nationalist party will wait until next month to name its candidate for prime minister for upcoming parliamentary elections, as Fidesz trails in most opinion polls.