The Unholy Alliance: Erdoğan's Turkey and Israel's War on Gaza

By: M. Sharfi

In the midst of Israel’s relentless aggression against the Gaza Strip a bleak landscape of geopolitical contradictions emerges in the conduct of certain nations in the region. Among these Turkey’s duplicitous policies toward the Israeli regime warrant particular scrutiny. Despite vociferously denouncing Israeli actions as genocidal and branding Zionist Prime Minister Netanyahu as the "butcher of Gaza" Turkey continues to pursue robust economic ties with Israeli regime thereby undermining its ostensible solidarity with Palestine. Such hypocritical approach calls into question Ankara’s professed commitment to the Palestinian cause and exposes the cynical calculus underlying its geopolitical strategy.

Turkey’s relationship with Israel is not a recent phenomenon. As the first Muslim-majority country to formally recognize the state of Israel Ankara has long straddled a precarious tightrope between its political and economic pragmatism.

While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's fiery condemnations of Israel’s military operations have resonated across the Islamic world these rhetorical flourishes belie a deeply entrenched economic partnership that has only flourished over time. Indeed; despite repeated pledges to sever military and trade ties with Israel following successive crises in Gaza Turkey’s economic interdependence with the Israeli regime has continued to deepen.

The numbers speak volumes. Trade between Turkey and Israel has reached unprecedented levels cementing Ankara as one of Tel Aviv’s principal economic partners. In 2022 Turkey became Israel’s fourth-largest exporter with bilateral trade volumes exceeding $6.7 billion. Turkish exports to Israel encompass a broad range of goods--from agricultural products and machinery to chemicals and textiles--while Israeli exports to Turkey include high-tech equipment and chemical products. Of particular note is Turkey’s dominance in supplying Israel’s iron and steel accounting for 65 percent of Israel’s steel imports. These materials are indispensable to various sectors including Israel’s military-industrial complex thereby directly bolstering its capacity for aggression.

Even amid the recent escalation in Gaza Turkey’s economic ties with Israel remain intact. Following Operation Al-Aqsa Storm and Israel’s unprecedented aggression against the Gaza Strip Turkish authorities proclaimed an embargo on trade with the Israeli regime.

Yet; evidence suggests that this embargo is riddled with loopholes. Turkish companies appear to be circumventing the ban by routing exports through the occupied Palestinian territories effectively enabling Tel Aviv to sidestep international scrutiny. According to data from the Turkish Exporters' Association (TIM) exports ostensibly destined for Palestine have skyrocketed. For instance; Turkish steel exports to Palestine surged from a mere $156000 in 2023 to an astonishing $68 million in 2024 representing a staggering 43500 percent increase. Similarly cable exports to Palestine which were negligible in 2023 soared by 128000 percent to $1.75 million within a single month in 2024. Reports indicate that much of these exports ultimately benefit the Israeli military with Turkish firms like Pamukkale Kablo Cable Company directly supplying critical materials to Israel’s armed forces.

This pattern of economic complicity is not a recent aberration but rather emblematic of the broader inconsistencies that have characterized Turkey-Israel relations over the past 75 years. While Ankara frequently garners accolades in the Islamic world for its rhetorical support of Palestinian rights its actions tell a different story. Erdoğan’s bombastic denunciations of Israel’s actions serve as political theater carefully calibrated to galvanize domestic and regional support while distracting from the inconvenient reality of Turkey’s material contributions to Israel’s economy. Such Janus-faced policies render Ankara’s anti-Israeli posturing hollow and expose the extent to which Turkey prioritizes economic gains over ethical consistency.

In this light Turkey’s behavior vis-à-vis Israel exemplifies the adage “cui bono?” While Erdoğan’s rhetoric may appeal to public opinion within Turkey and the broader Muslim world the ultimate beneficiary of Ankara’s duplicity is undoubtedly the Israeli regime. By facilitating Israel’s economic prosperity--even in the face of mounting international condemnation--Turkey undermines the very principles it claims to uphold. Far from being an advocate for Palestinian liberation Ankara’s actions betray a calculated opportunism that prioritizes economic expediency over moral imperatives.

The incongruity between Turkey’s rhetoric and reality is not merely a matter of political hypocrisy but a profound betrayal of the Palestinian cause. In lending material support to a regime it publicly decries as genocidal Ankara not only diminishes its credibility but also enables the perpetuation of violence against the very people it purports to defend. As the aphorism goes “Acta non verba”. If Turkey genuinely aspires to stand as a bulwark against Israeli aggression; it must align its actions with its proclamations and abandon its duplicitous policies. Anything less is tantamount to complicity.