Is Turkey assembling a Muslim coalition to wage war against Israel? This was the question posed by the Indian newspaper *Hindustan Times* after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a ”call to war” against Israel on July 4.
In mid-July, Erdogan once again declared war on Israel after the country had protected the Druze population from abuse and mass murder by regime-loyal forces in Syria.
The speech in early July was held at the 17th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). Erdogan condemned Israel and vowed ”not to remain silent while the Netanyahu administration turns our region into a bloodbath.”
Ten Muslim countries from the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Southwest Asia are members of ECO: Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
In the same address, Erdogan also expressed support for the new leadership in Syria — a country where half a million people have died and millions have fled due to the recent civil war. Erdogan urged delegates to support the new president, Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, who has a background in the terrorist group Al-Qaeda. Turkey played a crucial role in enabling former Al-Qaeda leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani to rise to power in Syria.
Erdogan also praised Afghanistan, which has been ruled by the Taliban — a fundamentalist Islamist movement classified as a terrorist organization by several countries — since August 2021. On April 17, Russia removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations, and on July 3 — the day before Erdogan’s ECO speech — Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Threatening to Enter Israel
During a party meeting last summer, Turkish President Erdogan stated that Turkey might enter Israel in the same way it previously did in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh.
After Israel dismantled the military capacity of Hezbollah, Hamas, and attacked Iranian nuclear facilities, Erdogan is now attempting to take Iran’s place in mobilizing military support among Islamists against Israel. For the first time since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey is openly striving for regional dominance.
Israel must prepare for a potential war with Turkey, warned the Nagel Committee as early as January. This committee advises the Israeli government on defense budgets and security strategy. It warned that Turkey’s ambitions to restore Ottoman influence could lead to increased tensions with Israel, potentially escalating into conflict.
In mid-July, Erdogan once again declared war on Israel after Israel bombed the Syrian Ministry of Defense on July 16 to protect the Druze minority in the Arab nation, who were under attack by pro-government forces.
Islamists in Iran and Turkey Cooperate
The next ECO summit is scheduled for 2027 and will be hosted by the Islamic Republic of Iran. In recent years, Turkey and Iran have strengthened their ties. A key figure in this process is Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Behnam Shahriyari, the infamous general in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed on June 21 in a precision strike by Israeli forces in western Iran. He had long operated freely in Turkey under President Erdogan’s protection.
According to Israel, Shahriyari funded and armed Iran-backed terrorist groups throughout the Middle East.
”Shahriyari was responsible for all weapons shipments from the Iranian regime to its proxies across the Middle East, directly advancing the regime’s plan to annihilate Israel,” stated the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Despite the U.S. Treasury Department imposing sanctions on him for supplying weapons to Hezbollah, he was welcomed in Turkey. As early as 2011, Hakan Fidan — then head of Turkey’s intelligence agency (MIT) and now foreign minister — organized an official reception for Shahriyari.
A Turkish investigation, which was later halted by Erdogan, revealed alarming levels of Iranian infiltration into the upper echelons of the Turkish government. Both Iran and Turkey support Islamist terrorist organizations such as Hamas.
In February 2024, Shahriyari was indicted by a U.S. prosecutor for terrorism, having laundered proceeds from illegal oil sales to China, Russia, and Syria to finance IRGC operations.
