It is a newspaper which calls on its front page to “destroy the terrorist state of Israel”. It’s a bookstore in Istanbul that places a poster “no Jews allowed” on its front. He is a municipal councilor from Erdogan’s party who remembers Adolf Hitler “with gratitude” and dreams aloud of a world “cleansed of Jews, which will then be at peace”. These are attacks and stone throwing against Israeli diplomatic representations in Ankara and Istanbul. In Turkey, since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the anti-Semitic wave has transformed into a veritable tsunami. And its president is no stranger to it.
Ultranationalists call for war against Israel
Recep Tayyip Erdogan initially kept a low profile. Hadn’t he gotten closer to Israel in recent months, going so far as to shake Benjamin Netanyahu’s hand in September, for the first time in ten years? A way of saluting the economic ties between their two countries, but also the teams of Israeli rescuers who intervened during the terrible earthquake of February 6 in Turkey. Recently, several Hamas leaders had also been asked to leave Ankara.
But Erdogan maintains an electoral base made up of ultranationalists and Islamists, two groups deeply hostile to Israel – and to Jews in general. The Turkish president risked being outflanked by his right, when his ultranationalist partner Devlet Bahçeli demanded to go to war to protect the children of Gaza. Then Erdogan changed his tone, refusing to condemn the massacres committed by Hamas but instead recognizing “a group of liberators who protect their land”.
On Saturday, the Turkish president, wearing a keffiyeh around his neck, took part in the huge pro-Palestinian rally on the tarmac of the old Atatürk airport in Istanbul. In front of hundreds of thousands of people, the reis hit the nail on the head, targeting the Jewish state without holding back its blows: “Israel has been committing war crimes for twenty-two days, we are telling the whole world that Israel is a war criminal!” Turkey, a member of NATO, has chosen its side, even if it means waking up the monsters of History.