This article was originally published in Israel Hayom on September 1, 2025.
The recognition of the Armenian genocide has infuriated Erdogan, so his decision to suspend trade relations and close Israeli airspace to Israeli aircraft is not surprising.
Regarding the terrible massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks, we regret Prime Minister Netanyahu’s timid response. His half-hearted response failed to convince the government in Yerevan or the faithful Christian Armenian community, which at the time found refuge in Jerusalem and still coexists in harmony with Jewish and Arab Jerusalemites. Only a genuine debate in the Knesset and a unanimous resolution can do justice to the Armenian Holocaust.
Since the Islamists took power, Ankara has changed its face and strategy. Its government has radicalized and immersed itself in the cults of God, divinity, the former Ottoman Empire, and personality. Erdogan’s Turkey has sought by all means to establish itself as a regional power. Its new attempts to impose its agenda on Syria worry Israel and risk sabotaging normalization with Damascus.
As cunning as a fox, Erdogan still dreams of leading the Sunni world against Shiite Iran, which was greatly weakened after the Twelve-Day War.
His anti-Israel policies and violent diatribes succeeded in unleashing the crowds. In the souks and bazaars of Istanbul and elsewhere, tensions rose and political prices soared. Erdogan had believed he had become the new Ottoman leader of the region.
Over the past two decades, we have experienced numerous crises with Erdogan. It all began with the humiliating failure of his mediation efforts with Syria, initiated by the Olmert government; this was followed by Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, then the flotilla and the Marmara, the incident with Shimon Peres in Davos, and the diplomatic crisis with the Turkish ambassador.
President Herzog’s official visit to Ankara in March 2022 seemed to mark a historic turning point, but it failed to improve our relations, either diplomatically or commercially. Relations have worsened on all levels since October 7, 2023, but have not been completely severed.
Turkey is a huge strategic country and a member of NATO. It is a great civilization, a bridge between Asia and Europe, and it still has its place in the society of nations despite a dark past with the Germans, the Armenian genocide, the massive attacks against the Kurds, and the war against Cyprus.
The Ottomans ruled our region for more than four hundred years, and their imprint is still etched in our memory.
However, Turkey was the first Muslim country to recognize the Jewish state, and until Erdogan came to power, our relations with Ankara were excellent, particularly on the military and intelligence fronts.
It is worth noting that Turkey’s exports to Israel amount to more than seven billion dollars.
However, Erdogan is mired in a severe economic crisis and wants to eliminate all opposition to his regime. He still believes that rapprochement with Israel will give him considerable advantages, strong support from President Trump, and solidarity from moderate Arab countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. He now realizes that the Abraham Accords could be highly beneficial, as the Jewish state has become a crucial regional power in the Middle East and the Mediterranean Basin.
Faced with the current geopolitical situation and the Ukrainian crisis, Erdogan will have to understand that, being part of NATO, a member of the Western world, and an ally of Israel, he will now have to respect, to the letter, the rules of the game, international laws, good neighborliness, and accept both constraints and advantages.
However, to turn the page and avoid the mistakes of the past, we must be vigilant. We must first demand significant concessions from Erdogan, and one day from his successor. He must commit to:
- To have full diplomatic relations with serving ambassadors and exchange official visits.
- Not to sabotage the gas agreement we signed with Cyprus and Greece, which Turkey fiercely opposed.
- Put an end to grotesque, provocative, and antisemitic interventions after each attack or IDF operation.
- No longer intervene in Islamist demonstrations on the Temple Mount and finance Islamic institutions in Jerusalem.
- No longer support Hamas and do not reopen offices of the terrorist organization in Istanbul and withdraw from commercial activities in East Jerusalem.
The Turkish people are certainly not our enemy, and it is for this fundamental reason that we wish to return one day to normal and friendly relations.
