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 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
The Pentagon has approved plans to supply Ukraine with Tomahawk long-range missiles, while preparing to scale back the U.S. military presence in Eastern Europe, signaling a significant shift in America’s strategy toward both the war and its NATO military alliance commitments.
The NATO military alliance is on heightened alert across Eastern Europe after Lithuania and neighboring Baltic nations accused Belarus and Russia of orchestrating a surge in “hybrid” airspace incursions involving balloons, drones, and fighter jets. Officials say the pattern of provocations reflects Moscow’s widening confrontation with the West amid its ongoing war in Ukraine.
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) say they have detained several of their own fighters following global outrage over this month’s alleged massacres in the besieged city of El Fasher, but church monitors and human-rights advocates warn that civilians — including Christians — remain in grave danger.
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has warned that Russia’s ongoing strikes in neighboring Ukraine have damaged nuclear substations, potentially threatening the region and the rest of Europe.
French authorities say five more people have been detained over the crown jewels heist inside the world’s most-visited museum in Paris — a theft that has stunned the heritage world.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Thursday that Hamas will be disarmed and the Gaza Strip fully demilitarized — declaring that if the international community fails to carry out that mission, Israel will act alone.
Returning from his Asia trip, President Donald Trump on Thursday night urged Republicans to “play their Trump card” and eliminate the Senate filibuster to end the monthlong government shutdown, escalating pressure on lawmakers to break the political deadlock in Washington.