- Joined
- Mar 11, 2013
- Messages
- 14,710
- Points
- 113
When Israel struck Iranian targets, Erdogan positioned Turkey as a “new Iran”, asserting military, political, and nuclear ambitions. For the first time since the Ottoman Empire’s collapse, Turkey openly seeks regional dominance.
Like Iran, Turkey provides political and logistical support to terror organizations, notably Hamas, further destabilizing regional security and threatening Israel. This strategic posture closely mirrors Iran’s longstanding pursuit of regional influence through military intimidation and nuclear brinkmanship.
Erdogan recently announced rapid advancement of Turkey’s ballistic missile program, having successfully tested the ‘Typhoon’ missile capable of hitting targets at distances up to 560 km. He explicitly warned that if Greece does not remain “calm”, Athens itself could become a target. Turkey has also initiated mass production of the domestically developed stealth fighter jet ‘Kaan’, expected to enter service by 2029. Erdogan emphasized that Turkey “cannot afford to lag behind” Iran and Israel.
Turkey is accelerating its nuclear project at Akkuyu on the Mediterranean Sea, which begins operations this year. Its insistence on independent uranium enrichment suggests a rapid shift to military nuclear capability. In 2019, Erdogan explicitly stated: “I cannot accept the ban on Turkey possessing nuclear weapons while Israel has them”. Turkey risks following Iran’s path, leveraging an international network: Pakistan, which previously assisted Iran and Libya; Niger, supplying nuclear raw materials; and Somalia, hosting clandestine Turkish military training bases far from Western scrutiny…
The worst thing that could happen would be to allow Turkey to build up arms. While Greece has “‘fiercely’ lobbied France to halt sale of radar-guided, air-to-air Meteor missiles to Turkey, several EU countries are moving ahead with arms sales with Turkey.” They include Italy and Spain.
Turkey has been expanding its influence and bullying Greece in the process. In 2022, tensions rose to the point that there were widespread fears of war between the two NATO members. Yet no NATO member other than Greece, or any country, for that matter, is even attempting to hold Erdogan to any standard of accountability. Also in 2022, Erdogan was leveraging the Russia-Ukraine war to gain advantage. He held talks with Putin in order to deepen ties with Russia, and completely disregarded NATO’s concerns. Erdogan has stated his intention of reviving the Ottoman Empire, and has even revealed a “map of ‘Greater Turkey’ that goes back to the era of the Seljuk Empire and its defeat of the Byzantine Empire in the 1071 Battle of Manzikert.” He is also cracking down on political opponents who could unseat him in elections, even detaining and jailing them.
Erdogan’s ambitions are being facilitated by careless NATO and EU members, who should be paying attention, but choose to look the other way. Erdogan has stated that “Turkey has nothing that contradicts” Taliban “beliefs.” Yet its respectable status as a NATO state remains unchanged.
Shay Gal further states:
Turkey exploits its NATO membership for immunity, undermining the alliance from within and enjoying protection Iran has never received, despite Ankara’s policies contradicting NATO interests. Despite Turkey’s acquisition of Russia’s S-400 system compromising NATO security, President Trump seeks Turkey’s return to the F-35 program, further emboldening Erdogan.
Turkey’s view of Israel isn’t much different from Iran’s. Erdogan has compared Netanyahu to Hitler, and declared: “Whoever is on the side of Israel, let everyone know that we are against them.” During Eid al-Fitr remarks he made in April, Erdogan demanded that Allah “damn Zionist Israel.” The Turkish president has demanded that Israel withdraw from Syria, and even threatened to enter Israel to protect Palestinians, stating: “Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we will do [something] similar exactly to them.” Erdogan also “accused Israel of threatening security in the Middle East during a phone call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.” An article in The Atlantic referenced Erdogan as “perhaps the greatest danger to the Jewish state in the Middle East.”
Erdogan has also allowed US-convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist, Sami Al-Arian, to operate freely in Turkey, with the support of resources provided by Erdogan and his government.
Gal advises that Israel must be prepared and “ensure that the operational capacity to strike Turkish military assets – similar to its demonstrated actions against Iranian threats – is fully developed, credibly signaled, and closely coordinated with regional allies. Israel must firmly oppose any deal reinstating Turkey into the F-35 program in exchange for concessions in Syria.” The world has long accepted the fact that Iran is a rogue nation, but Israel’s battle with Turkey is far more complex. The Jewish state’s work is cut out for it.
As global attention focuses on the openly hostile Iran — infamous for its proxies, agents abroad and chants of “death to America” and “death to Israel” — Turkey quietly maneuvers its way toward regional and global dominance. And is building up its military, with help from the West. Trump needs to think twice about referencing Erdogan as “a friend of mine.”
Like Iran, Turkey provides political and logistical support to terror organizations, notably Hamas, further destabilizing regional security and threatening Israel. This strategic posture closely mirrors Iran’s longstanding pursuit of regional influence through military intimidation and nuclear brinkmanship.
Erdogan recently announced rapid advancement of Turkey’s ballistic missile program, having successfully tested the ‘Typhoon’ missile capable of hitting targets at distances up to 560 km. He explicitly warned that if Greece does not remain “calm”, Athens itself could become a target. Turkey has also initiated mass production of the domestically developed stealth fighter jet ‘Kaan’, expected to enter service by 2029. Erdogan emphasized that Turkey “cannot afford to lag behind” Iran and Israel.
Turkey is accelerating its nuclear project at Akkuyu on the Mediterranean Sea, which begins operations this year. Its insistence on independent uranium enrichment suggests a rapid shift to military nuclear capability. In 2019, Erdogan explicitly stated: “I cannot accept the ban on Turkey possessing nuclear weapons while Israel has them”. Turkey risks following Iran’s path, leveraging an international network: Pakistan, which previously assisted Iran and Libya; Niger, supplying nuclear raw materials; and Somalia, hosting clandestine Turkish military training bases far from Western scrutiny…
The worst thing that could happen would be to allow Turkey to build up arms. While Greece has “‘fiercely’ lobbied France to halt sale of radar-guided, air-to-air Meteor missiles to Turkey, several EU countries are moving ahead with arms sales with Turkey.” They include Italy and Spain.
Turkey has been expanding its influence and bullying Greece in the process. In 2022, tensions rose to the point that there were widespread fears of war between the two NATO members. Yet no NATO member other than Greece, or any country, for that matter, is even attempting to hold Erdogan to any standard of accountability. Also in 2022, Erdogan was leveraging the Russia-Ukraine war to gain advantage. He held talks with Putin in order to deepen ties with Russia, and completely disregarded NATO’s concerns. Erdogan has stated his intention of reviving the Ottoman Empire, and has even revealed a “map of ‘Greater Turkey’ that goes back to the era of the Seljuk Empire and its defeat of the Byzantine Empire in the 1071 Battle of Manzikert.” He is also cracking down on political opponents who could unseat him in elections, even detaining and jailing them.
Erdogan’s ambitions are being facilitated by careless NATO and EU members, who should be paying attention, but choose to look the other way. Erdogan has stated that “Turkey has nothing that contradicts” Taliban “beliefs.” Yet its respectable status as a NATO state remains unchanged.
Shay Gal further states:
Turkey exploits its NATO membership for immunity, undermining the alliance from within and enjoying protection Iran has never received, despite Ankara’s policies contradicting NATO interests. Despite Turkey’s acquisition of Russia’s S-400 system compromising NATO security, President Trump seeks Turkey’s return to the F-35 program, further emboldening Erdogan.
Turkey’s view of Israel isn’t much different from Iran’s. Erdogan has compared Netanyahu to Hitler, and declared: “Whoever is on the side of Israel, let everyone know that we are against them.” During Eid al-Fitr remarks he made in April, Erdogan demanded that Allah “damn Zionist Israel.” The Turkish president has demanded that Israel withdraw from Syria, and even threatened to enter Israel to protect Palestinians, stating: “Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we will do [something] similar exactly to them.” Erdogan also “accused Israel of threatening security in the Middle East during a phone call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.” An article in The Atlantic referenced Erdogan as “perhaps the greatest danger to the Jewish state in the Middle East.”
Erdogan has also allowed US-convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist, Sami Al-Arian, to operate freely in Turkey, with the support of resources provided by Erdogan and his government.
Gal advises that Israel must be prepared and “ensure that the operational capacity to strike Turkish military assets – similar to its demonstrated actions against Iranian threats – is fully developed, credibly signaled, and closely coordinated with regional allies. Israel must firmly oppose any deal reinstating Turkey into the F-35 program in exchange for concessions in Syria.” The world has long accepted the fact that Iran is a rogue nation, but Israel’s battle with Turkey is far more complex. The Jewish state’s work is cut out for it.
As global attention focuses on the openly hostile Iran — infamous for its proxies, agents abroad and chants of “death to America” and “death to Israel” — Turkey quietly maneuvers its way toward regional and global dominance. And is building up its military, with help from the West. Trump needs to think twice about referencing Erdogan as “a friend of mine.”
