Israel seeks to make Türkiye its new enemy after Iran war

Turkey – (Web Desk) – Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said that Israel cannot seem to exist without having an enemy. After its conflict with Iran, he believes Israel is now looking to turn Turkey into its next target.

“After Iran, Israel cannot live without an enemy,” Fidan said in a television interview.

He pointed out that not only Israel’s current government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but also some opposition figures in Israel, appear to be pushing this idea. He called it a growing strategy within the Israeli state.

Relations between Turkey and Israel have been getting worse since the Gaza war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

Things took a sharper turn recently when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned US President Donald Trump about possible attempts to sabotage a ceasefire between the US and Iran.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had announced this two-week ceasefire on April 8, which ended a six-week war. That war had started on February 28, when the United States and Israel jointly launched strikes against Iran.

After Erdogan’s warning, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu declared that Israel would continue to stand against Iran and its allies in the region.

Turkey fired back, saying Netanyahu’s real goal was to destroy peace efforts and expand Israeli influence across the region.

In a statement on April 11, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry reminded the world that Netanyahu faces serious corruption charges in his own country and could end up in prison.

Turkey also referred to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In the same interview, Foreign Minister Fidan spoke about the upcoming NATO summit, scheduled for July 7–8 in Ankara, Turkey.

He said NATO countries should use this summit as a chance to rebuild their relationship with President Trump, especially as the US may reduce its role in the alliance.

Fidan also expressed belief that Trump would attend the summit out of personal respect for President Erdogan.

Trump has criticised Nato for years and last week threatened to pull the United States out of the alliance over European members’ refusal to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz near Iran. That compounded friction within the bloc over his earlier plans to acquire Greenland.

Fidan said that allies had long considered Trump’s criticisms to be rhetoric, but were now planning around the possibility of reduced US involvement and ramping up their own defensive capacities.

“Nato countries need to turn this Ankara Summit into an opportunity to put ties with the United States on a systematic basis,” he said.

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“If there will be a US withdrawal from some Nato mechanisms, there needs to be a plan and programme to phase this out so nobody is left in the open,” he added.

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte has said he understood Trump’s frustrations with the alliance, but that the “large majority of European nations” had been helpful to Washington’s war effort in Iran.

A senior White House official told Reuters last week that Trump, as part of his frustration with Nato, had also considered the option of removing some US troops from Europe.