On January 3, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan declared that the West has lost any right to speak about principles and morality by taking one stance on Ukraine and the total opposite on Gaza.
Speaking at a press conference in Ankara, Fidan talked about issues such as the present conflict in Gaza, the recent intensification of tension in Lebanon, as well as the Yemen’s blockade of the Red Sea.
“What happened in Gaza has caused the West and Europeans to suddenly lose all their reputation and all the credit they had accumulated. They have spent all their credit in the eyes of humanity, and especially our generation,” Fidan told reporters. “It won’t be easy for them to get it back.”
Moreover, the Turkish foreign minister characterized the contrast between the West’s position on Gaza and its official position on the Ukraine conflict as “peak hypocrisy.”
“They can’t talk about principles, virtue and morality [when] they completely ignore them,” Fidan said. “I see that all of this is paving the way for a huge geostrategic rupture.”
Although the United States and other Western countries have supplied “unconditional support” to Israel, Russia and China are “in a different position,” Fidan said, pointing out that “the equation in the region has evolved.”
Turkey and other Muslim countries in the region have created a “contact group” to coordinate their policy on the conflict and explore a peaceful solution in Gaza, Fidan told reporters.
His remarks came a day after Ankara declared the arrests of 33 people suspected of spying for Israel and issued warrants for 13 more suspected Mossad agents on January 2.
Based on reports from Anadolu Agency, these detained individuals, who were not named in the report, are believed to have been planning to conduct “reconnaissance” work including “pursuing, assaulting and kidnapping” foreign nationals living in Turkey on behalf of Israel.
Ronen Bar, director of the Israeli Shin Bet intelligence agency, cautioned last month that his officers planned to hunt down Hamas operatives “everywhere, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Turkey, in Qatar.”
“It will take a few years but we will be there to do it,” Bar said in a recording aired by Israeli state broadcaster Kan.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also previously warned Israel that it would face “serious consequences” if it continued trying to hunt down Hamas officials in his country.
Although Turkey and Israel had begun to normalize ties before war was declared on Hamas and Gaza was bombed intensely by the Israelis, both sides have since withdrawn ambassadors from each other’s territory.
Furthermore, during an opening speech at an award ceremony in Ankara on December 27, Erdoğan also condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “worse than Hitler,” accusing him of committing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
“He takes support from the West, he receives all kinds of support from the US, and with all that support, 20,000 Gazans have been killed,” Erdoğan said. That number has since increased to 21,800, as per reports from Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Israel presently has “Nazi camps” of its own to hold Palestinians in, the Turkish president claimed, implying the campaign in Gaza was as bad as the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany.
“We’ve seen the Nazi camps of Israel. How does this happen? They used to speak ill about Hitler, but how are you any different than Hitler?” Erdoğan posited.
“They are going to make us miss Hitler. Is what Netanyahu is doing any less than what Hitler did? It is not.”
The only real difference between the late Nazi Führer and the Israeli PM is the broad support from the West for Netanyahu and his campaign against Hamas, the Turkish leader alleged.
“He is richer than Hitler; he gets support from the West. All sorts of support comes from the United States. And what did they do with all this support? They killed more than 20,000 Gazans,” he lambasted.
Erdoğan has long tried to portray himself as a protector of the Palestinians, repeatedly slamming Israeli policies. Many high-ranking Hamas officials live or spend considerable time outside Gaza and the West Bank, including in Turkey, where the terrorist group has an office in Istanbul. Erdoğan has said the group was “defending its lands” and fighting for the liberation of Palestinians.
Following the brutal Hamas attack on Israelis on October 7 that killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis and took 240 captive, as well as subsequent Israeli bombings of Gaza, Erdoğan dramatically stepped up his statements.
Erdoğan’s recent statements likening Netanyahu to Hitler have sparked a response from Netanyahu. The Israeli leader disavowed the criticism, and instead blasted Erdoğan’s questionable account and accused him of committing genocide in Turkey and beyond.
“Erdoğan, who commits genocide against the Kurds, who holds a world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his rule, is the last person who can preach morality to us,” Netanyahu stated, while refraining from accusing Erdoğan of being like Hitler himself.
The Israeli military is the “most moral army in the world,” and it is presently in conflict with “the most disgusting and cruel terrorist group in the world,” Netanyahu added, alluding to Hamas.
Critics of Israeli’s military operation have pointed to the high civilian death toll in Gaza, while reported admissions by military officials that civilian infrastructure had been purposely targeted, as well as leaked government documents describing plans to relocate the entire Palestinian population out of Gaza, have undermined international support for Israel.
Besides, on December 24, Turkish broadcaster TGRT Haber TV published a statement confirming its firing of an anchor for appearing on air with a cup from Starbucks, the international coffee chain that many in Turkey regard as pro-Israel.
In its statement, the channel strongly denounced the actions of news anchor Meltem Gunay and an unnamed director, terminating their contracts for “just cause.” It explained that “it is strictly forbidden for the announcer to present on TGRT News TV in a way that will covertly advertise any company.”
The statement further elaborated that “our institution … knows the sensitivities of the Turkish people regarding Gaza and defends them to the end.”
The perception that Starbucks is pro-Israel can be traced to a legal battle between the chain and a union organizing its workers. Shortly after the eruption of the Hamas-Israel conflict, the latter, officially called Starbucks Workers United, wrote “Solidarity with Palestine!” on X (formerly Twitter).
In response, Starbucks sued the group for trademark infringement while also maintaining that the post angered customers and besmirched its reputation. Workers United filed a countersuit, alleging that Starbucks defamed the union by implying that it backed terrorism and violence.
The coffee chain has denied being either pro-Palestine or pro-Israel, stating it objects to violence and “stand[s] for humanity.”
