President Erdogan Condemns Netanyahu, Reaffirms Türkiye’s Support for Palestine, Syria, and Libya

Ankara, The Gulf Observer: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday strongly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s recent attack on the Hamas negotiating team in Qatar, likening him to Adolf Hitler.

“Ideologically, Netanyahu is like a relative of Hitler. Just as Hitler could not foresee the defeat that awaited him, Netanyahu will face the same ultimate fate,” Erdogan told reporters on his return from Doha, where he attended an emergency Arab-Islamic summit following last week’s Israeli airstrike.

Calling the attack on Hamas negotiators “a blatant challenge to international order and international law,” Erdogan accused Israel’s leadership of turning its “radical mindset into a murderous network built on fascist ideology.”

He also underlined Türkiye’s firm backing of the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the New York Declaration on a two-state solution. The declaration, supported by 142 countries, reflects the international community’s growing consensus, Erdogan said, noting that Türkiye has long championed this approach. He welcomed recent moves by several Western states to recognize Palestine and pledged to raise the issue again at the upcoming UN General Assembly session.

Turning to regional issues, Erdogan reaffirmed Türkiye’s commitment to Syria’s territorial integrity, highlighting the integration of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into state institutions as a positive step. He emphasized that Türkiye “cannot abandon Syria” amid complex regional dynamics.

On Libya, the Turkish president stressed Ankara’s policy of safeguarding the country’s sovereignty and unity. He noted Türkiye’s continued support for the Tripoli government alongside efforts to engage eastern Libya diplomatically. Erdogan added that Benghazi’s approval of the 2019 maritime jurisdiction agreement with Türkiye would represent a “significant gain under international law.”

The 2019 deal with Libya’s Tripoli-based government had enabled joint offshore exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean, while a subsequent 2022 agreement expanded cooperation to oil and gas projects both onshore and offshore.