Turkish Leaders Debate Erdogan's Talk of Israeli 'Threat'
October 08, 2024
3:19 PM
Reading time: 2 minutes
Turkish President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan's recent assertion that Israel has plans to physically invade Turkish territory has led to a fierce debate inside the halls of power in Ankara. Some of Erdogan's allies have made statements seeming to affirm the claim, while opposition lawmakers have cast doubt on it and accused Edrogan of trying to change the subject from the country's poorly performing economy.
Devlet Bahceli, leader of MHO, a parliamentary ally of Erdogan's AKP Party, said on Tuesday it was "likely that chaos in neighboring countries will reach our borders and that Israel will harass Turkey."
"It's unreasonable to think Netanyahu will conduct an assault on Turkey, which is a NATO member and has a great army," Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), told a meeting of his party.
Israeli officials have not bothered to respond to the accusation.