Turkey has been a longstanding supporter of Palestine and the Palestinian people. This support stems from the deep cultural, historical and social bonds between Turks and Palestinians that have developed over centuries of shared history in the region. In recent years, Turkey’s backing of Palestine has become increasingly pronounced under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s leadership.
Historical Ties Between Turkey and Palestine
The relationship between Turkey and Palestine goes back hundreds of years to when the area was under Ottoman rule. The Ottoman Empire controlled much of the Middle East including Palestine from the early 16th century until its collapse after World War I. During this time, Turkish culture influenced and mixed with local Palestinian culture.
Even after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, close ties remained. Turkey was one of the first Muslim-majority countries to recognize the state of Israel after its formation in 1948. However, relations began to sour following the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and other Palestinian territories after the 1967 Six-Day War.
In the 1970s, Turkey established official diplomatic relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization. And in 1988, it recognized the new Palestinian state declared in exile. This recognition of Palestinian statehood and rights has only grown over subsequent decades.
Erdogan’s Vocal Support for Palestine
Since becoming Turkey’s prime minister in 2003 and president in 2014, Erdogan has made support for Palestine a centerpiece of his foreign policy. He has adopted a forceful stance in criticizing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, especially in Gaza.
Erdogan’s rhetoric and policies frequently showcase Turkey’s alignment with Palestinian causes. For example, in 2006 his government invited the leader of Hamas, considered a terrorist group by much of the West, for an official visit to Turkey.
And in 2010, under Erdogan’s watch, a Turkish flotilla attempted to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza. This resulted in a confrontation with Israel that put relations into a deep freeze for years.
During the 2022 and 2023 wars in Gaza, Erdogan amplified his condemnations of Israel’s military actions. He accused Israel of genocide and compared its leaders to Hitler. At pro-Palestinian rallies in Turkey, Erdogan has directly addressed the Palestinian people, declaring Turkey’s unconditional support.
Domestically, Erdogan’s Palestine stance resonates with his conservative voter base. And it aligns with his wider efforts to position Turkey as a leader of the Muslim world.
Extensive Turkish Aid to Palestine
Beyond rhetoric, Turkey provides substantial humanitarian and economic assistance to Palestine. It has given over $300 million in aid since 1995 through both governmental programs and international organizations.
Much of this aid goes towards infrastructure projects to bolster Palestinian institutions, agriculture, healthcare, education, and public services. Turkey has also facilitated hundreds of Gaza residents receiving medical treatment at Turkish hospitals.
Additionally, Turkey is a major donor to UN programs assisting Palestinian refugees like UNRWA. And Turkish NGOs are active in building hospitals, schools, and orphanages in the Palestinian territories.
During the 2021 war in Gaza, Turkey dispatched emergency supplies for Palestinians affected by the violence. This included medical equipment, food parcels, clothing, and other critical supplies.
Strained Turkey-Israel Relations
Turkey’s staunch pro-Palestinian stance has correlated with rapidly deteriorating relations with Israel over the last 20 years.
Diplomatic crises like the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid have brought ties to a halt. While relations thawed slightly in 2022 with the reappointment of ambassadors, they remain extremely tense.
Erdogan’s willingness to work with and show support for Hamas is a major sticking point for Israel. His strong condemnations of Israeli military actions also elicit angry responses from Israeli leaders.
Nonetheless, Turkey has not completely severed economic ties with Israel. Trade has continued even during periods of frozen diplomatic relations.
Domestic Support for Palestine in Turkey
Erdogan’s Palestine policies align with prevailing public opinion in Turkey. Most Turks sympathize with Palestinians and oppose Israel’s treatment of them. This popular support encompasses both conservative religious groups and secular nationalists.
Large pro-Palestinian demonstrations have occurred during conflicts like the 2021 war, showing the resonance of the issue. Turkish opposition parties also criticize Israel, even if less forcefully than Erdogan.
This public pressure means Turkish governments have limited room to stray from a pro-Palestinian stance. The Palestinian cause is both a foreign policy issue and a domestic political issue.
Will Turkey’s Palestine Support Continue?
Turkey’s strong backing of Palestinian rights and statehood seems unlikely to diminish under Erdogan. It matches his Islamic-leaning populism and neo-Ottoman foreign policy vision.
However, Turkey may tries to balance its Palestine stance with efforts to reduce regional tensions. This could entail discouraging provocative actions while still supporting Palestinian goals.
If new governments eventually emerge in Turkey, they will also face domestic constraints in maintaining largely pro-Palestinian policies. Public sympathies for Palestinians run broad and deep in Turkish society.
Turkey’s response to the crisis
KEVIN HUGGARD: How has Turkey responded to the present crisis? In your policy paper, you write that the evidence suggests that “the Turkish establishment views this as an inflection point, not a passing flare-up of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Given this, has the Turkish policy response thus far represented a departure from its traditional posture toward Israel-Palestine?
ASLI AYDINTAŞBAŞ: Erdoğan is known for his pragmatism and his skillful use of geopolitics to expand Turkey’s interests. When it suits his interests, he is willing to drop principles, reverse course, straddle between the West and Russia, reconcile with enemies, and so on. But not on the Palestinian issue. There is no pragmatism there. Erdoğan sees it as his calling to take a position against what Israel is doing, even if the price is isolation. It is clearly personal, ideological, and near and dear to his heart.
Turkey has taken the most strident anti-Israeli position within NATO, with Erdoğan organizing pro-Palestinian rallies himself and slamming both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the United States. But he may have gone overboard this time. Erdoğan has called Hamas a “liberation movement” — openly stating “Hamas is not a terrorist organization” and accusing Israel of committing “genocide.” Of course, this is very different from what many Arab leaders have done, which is criticizing Israel for its disregard for Palestinian civilians while also keeping their distance from Hamas.
When I spoke to Turkish diplomats and officials, even secularists, I was struck by how deeply resentful of the U.S. approach they were. There is plenty of criticism of Western double standards when it comes to dealing with civilian casualties in Ukraine and Gaza.
I noticed something else in these conversations: Turks are not certain that the threat of regional war is gone. They see the U.S. military buildup in the Eastern Mediterranean not as a deterrent for Iran, which is what the Biden administration intends, but as a provocation for Iran and Russia. They seemed to think that this could still become a regional inflection point, with a new intifada or greater involvement by Iran’s proxies, and later Russia.
Palestinian actors and Turkey’s Islamist-secular divide
KEVIN HUGGARD: Does the Islamist-secular divide in Turkish politics inform which Palestinian actors Turkish leaders are likely to support (i.e., the main Islamist group, Hamas, or the primary secular nationalist one, Fatah)? Or does support for the Palestinian cause generally transcend those ideological divides in Turkey?
ASLI AYDINTAŞBAŞ: I think the Palestinian cause now transcends the Islamist-secular divide.
For the government, the ideological battle has long been settled in favor of Hamas. While Turkey deals with both Fatah and Hamas and has at times hosted Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh simultaneously, the PA is viewed as an ineffective entity — and Hamas a reality. In that sense, Turkey has elevated and legitimized Hamas’s position within the Muslim world.
But I don’t know what all that means for the future. We have no idea what Israelis are planning for Gaza or what type of a postwar Gaza administration will emerge. Qatar and Turkey will continue to deal with Hamas’ political wing. But if the PA steps in to take control of Gaza, meetings with Haniyeh or other Hamas leaders could be irrelevant.
For me, the real question is: will Turkey recalibrate and tone down its language on Hamas in order to have the type of access it wants in Gaza and the West Bank?
Turkey might enter Israel to help Palestinians: Erdogan
FAQ
Does Turkey support Iran or Israel?
Is Turkey supporting Israel or Palestine?
Does Turkey support hamas?
Which countries support Palestine?
Does Turkey support the Palestinians?
But support for the Palestinians and anger at Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza are common in Turkish society. Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, struck back at Mr. Erdogan on Sunday, accusing him on social media of following in the footsteps of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi strongman who was executed in 2006. Mr.
Could Turkey enter Israel in support of the Palestinians?
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised the possibility that Turkey could enter Israel in support of the Palestinians, a significant step-up in his harsh words toward the Jewish state over the Gaza war. But it was unclear whether his comments reflected any concrete plans by Turkey or were just intended to appeal to his political base.
Will Turkey turn back on its commitment to a Palestinian state?
REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed Purchase Licensing Rights ANKARA, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Turkey will not turn its back on its commitment to a Palestinian state in order to broker closer ties with Israel, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday, ahead of an expected visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog next month.
Does Turkey have a relationship with the Palestinians?
Turkey has a deep-rooted shared history and maintains strong cultural and social connections with the Palestinian people. In 1975, the nation initiated official relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and was among the earliest countries to acknowledge the Palestinian State established in exile on November 15, 1988.