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Old statements are being circulated as recent claims of the Turkish President threatening military action against Israel

Recently, various domestic media outlets have circulated claims that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatened military action against Israel in response to its attacks on Palestine and Lebanon. He reportedly said, “We can take the same steps against Israel as we did in Karabakh and Libya.”

In this context, according to Al Jazeera, Turkey supports the Tripoli-based government of Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and sent troops to the country in 2020 to assist the UN-supported administration. Furthermore, Turkey pledged to support Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict “by all means,” including military training, modernization, and the supply of advanced combat drones and other military equipment.

Reports containing these claims have been published by the following media outlets: Somoy TV, DBC News, Maasranga TV (Facebook), Kalbela, Desh Rupantor, Ajker Patrika, Ittefaq, Amader Shomoy, Dainik Amader Shomoy, Bangladesh Pratidin, Shomoyer Alo, Khobor Songjog, Shomoyer Konthoswor, Newsbangla24, BD Today, Amar Barta, Dainik Bangla, Andoloner Bazar, Apon Desh, Newsnow24.

See an Instagram post promoting this claim here.

Fact-check

The Rumor Scanner investigation reveals that President Erdoğan did not recently issue a threat of military action against Israel, a fact confirmed by the Turkish government itself. Furthermore, the warning or threat cited—referencing Karabakh and Libya—is not from the recent period, but dates back to July 2024.

An analysis of the reports reveals that they primarily cited the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post and the British newspaper The Telegraph. An investigation into The Telegraph‘s website yielded no such report; however, an archived version of the article was found, indicating it was subsequently removed. There was no clear indication of when or where Erdoğan made this statement in The Telegraph‘s report. Investigations show that the author of the piece, Telegraph senior editor Paul Nuki, stated in a reply to an ‘X’ post on April 13: “We have deleted the piece. The quotes appear to have been old or entirely fabricated. We apologize.”

A search for the initial version of The Jerusalem Post‘s report revealed an archive. It claimed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Israel of committing atrocities in Palestine and Lebanon and threatened potential military action against the Jewish state, citing past Turkish interventions in Karabakh and Libya as examples.

The report further alleged that after speaking at the International Asia-Political Parties Conference in Istanbul, Erdoğan responded to reporters’ questions and hinted more strongly that Ankara could enter into a military conflict with Israel. Erdoğan said, “We must be strong so that Israel cannot do these things to Palestine.” He added, “We will do to them exactly what we did in Karabakh and Libya. There is nothing stopping us from doing this. We just need to be strong so we can take these steps.”

Comparing the first version of The Jerusalem Post report (dated April 12) with the current version (dated April 15) reveals that the context of Erdoğan’s threat regarding Karabakh and Libya was altered without any correction. While the first version claimed the statement was made to reporters after the conference, the current version characterizes them as “in earlier, less-public remarks.”

A keyword search regarding the claim reveals no recent statements from Erdoğan threatening military attacks on Israel. A review of the video of Erdoğan’s speech at the “International Conference of Asian Political Parties” held in Istanbul on April 10 shows no such threat; however, he did harshly criticize Israel regarding Lebanon and Palestine.

Furthermore, a statement from the Turkish government on April 13 was found, which states: “The allegations that ‘Turkey has threatened to invade Israel,’ as circulated by certain media outlets and social media platforms, are completely baseless. The claims in these posts do not reflect reality and are a type of narrative constructed to disrupt regional stability. In line with long-standing state traditions and far-sighted thinking, the Republic of Turkey has consistently played a leading role in stopping bloodshed, protecting civilians, and establishing lasting peace in our region and beyond…”

When investigating whether Erdoğan had previously made statements mentioning Karabakh and Libya, a news video broadcast on the ‘NTV’ YouTube channel on July 29, 2024, features Erdoğan saying, “We must be very strong so that Israel cannot do such reckless things to Palestine. We can do the same thing to them as we did in Karabakh and Libya.”

Additionally, the international news agency Reuters reported that Erdoğan made these remarks on July 28, 2024, at a meeting of the ruling AK Party in his hometown of Rize.

Therefore, the claim that Turkish President Erdoğan has threatened military attacks on Israel by citing Karabakh and Libya is misleading.

Sources

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