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Jihad Watch has been reporting on Turkey since this site began in 2003. See HERE. For years, the country, led by the despotic Islamic supremacist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has posed a developing danger to Israel, as well as to America and Western interests. Western culture tends to focus on appearance and mannerisms, and the warriors of jihad are well aware of this. That’s why the former al-Qaeda leader who is now president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, now presents himself in a suit and tie. In the case of Turkey, the country should long ago have been thrown out of NATO, but Erdogan is likewise well-versed in how to manipulate Westerners. Erdogan and Trump appeared to be best buds at the NATO summit in The Hague on June 24. And U.S. ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack “expects Donald Trump and Tayyip Erdogan to resolve long-standing defence-related sanctions on Turkey by year end.” That would mean settling “the issue of sanctions, which the U.S. imposed in 2020 over Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 missile defence systems.”
Now comes a clever analysis from Shay Gal in the publication Israel Hayom. Gal is a senior strategic advisor and analyst specializing in international security, defense policy, geopolitical crisis management, and strategic communications. “Turkey is the new Iran,” by Shay Gal, Israel Hayom, July 8, 2025:
When Israel struck Iranian targets, Erdogan positioned Turkey as a “new Iran”, asserting military, political, and nuclear ambitions. For the first time since the Ottoman Empire’s collapse, Turkey openly seeks regional dominance.
Like Iran, Turkey provides political and logistical support to terror organizations, notably Hamas, further destabilizing regional security and threatening Israel. This strategic posture closely mirrors Iran’s longstanding pursuit of regional influence through military intimidation and nuclear brinkmanship.
Erdogan recently announced rapid advancement of Turkey’s ballistic missile program, having successfully tested the ‘Typhoon’ missile capable of hitting targets at distances up to 560 km. He explicitly warned that if Greece does not remain “calm”, Athens itself could become a target. Turkey has also initiated mass production of the domestically developed stealth fighter jet ‘Kaan’, expected to enter service by 2029. Erdogan emphasized that Turkey “cannot afford to lag behind” Iran and Israel.
Turkey is accelerating its nuclear project at Akkuyu on the Mediterranean Sea, which begins operations this year. Its insistence on independent uranium enrichment suggests a rapid shift to military nuclear capability. In 2019, Erdogan explicitly stated: “I cannot accept the ban on Turkey possessing nuclear weapons while Israel has them”. Turkey risks following Iran’s path, leveraging an international network: Pakistan, which previously assisted Iran and Libya; Niger, supplying nuclear raw materials; and Somalia, hosting clandestine Turkish military training bases far from Western scrutiny…
The worst thing that could happen would be to allow Turkey to build up arms. While Greece has “‘fiercely’ lobbied France to halt sale of radar-guided, air-to-air Meteor missiles to Turkey, several EU countries are moving ahead with arms sales with Turkey.” They include Italy and Spain.
Turkey has been expanding its influence and bullying Greece in the process. In 2022, tensions rose to the point that there were widespread fears of war between the two NATO members. Yet no NATO member other than Greece, or any country, for that matter, is even attempting to hold Erdogan to any standard of accountability. Also in 2022, Erdogan was leveraging the Russia-Ukraine war to gain advantage. He held talks with Putin in order to deepen ties with Russia, and completely disregarded NATO’s concerns. Erdogan has stated his intention of reviving the Ottoman Empire, and has even revealed a “map of ‘Greater Turkey’ that goes back to the era of the Seljuk Empire and its defeat of the Byzantine Empire in the 1071 Battle of Manzikert.” He is also cracking down on political opponents who could unseat him in elections, even detaining and jailing them.
Erdogan’s ambitions are being facilitated by careless NATO and EU members, who should be paying attention, but choose to look the other way. Erdogan has stated that “Turkey has nothing that contradicts” Taliban “beliefs.” Yet its respectable status as a NATO state remains unchanged.
Shay Gal further states:
Turkey exploits its NATO membership for immunity, undermining the alliance from within and enjoying protection Iran has never received, despite Ankara’s policies contradicting NATO interests. Despite Turkey’s acquisition of Russia’s S-400 system compromising NATO security, President Trump seeks Turkey’s return to the F-35 program, further emboldening Erdogan.
Turkey’s view of Israel isn’t much different from Iran’s. Erdogan has compared Netanyahu to Hitler, and declared: “Whoever is on the side of Israel, let everyone know that we are against them.” During Eid al-Fitr remarks he made in April, Erdogan demanded that Allah “damn Zionist Israel.” The Turkish president has demanded that Israel withdraw from Syria, and even threatened to enter Israel to protect Palestinians, stating: “Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we will do [something] similar exactly to them.” Erdogan also “accused Israel of threatening security in the Middle East during a phone call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.” An article in The Atlantic referenced Erdogan as “perhaps the greatest danger to the Jewish state in the Middle East.”
Erdogan has also allowed US-convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist, Sami Al-Arian, to operate freely in Turkey, with the support of resources provided by Erdogan and his government.
Gal advises that Israel must be prepared and “ensure that the operational capacity to strike Turkish military assets – similar to its demonstrated actions against Iranian threats – is fully developed, credibly signaled, and closely coordinated with regional allies. Israel must firmly oppose any deal reinstating Turkey into the F-35 program in exchange for concessions in Syria.” The world has long accepted the fact that Iran is a rogue nation, but Israel’s battle with Turkey is far more complex. The Jewish state’s work is cut out for it.
As global attention focuses on the openly hostile Iran — infamous for its proxies, agents abroad and chants of “death to America” and “death to Israel” — Turkey quietly maneuvers its way toward regional and global dominance. And is building up its military, with help from the West. Trump needs to think twice about referencing Erdogan as “a friend of mine.”
Turks have always been genocidal islamic savages.
They only pretended to be civilized to infiltrate the West.
The sooner they are kicked out of NATO and sanctioned the better.
They have contributed nothing to the civilized world or humanity.
I guess we still have OUR nukes there?? Why can’t people just be happy with what they have and leave everyone else alone??
ANd Turkey’s in NATO! Then again so are England, France and Germany and they are all well on their way to becoming Islamic states.
Erdogan clearly wants to reestablish the Ottoman Empire with himself as emperor, or caliph, or whatever. Upside is he is getting on in years and will probably croak at any time. If my dog looked like him I would make it walk backward.
Low birthrate among Turks and a high rate among Kurds in there could reduce Turks to minority status in their own country. Now that would be a sight to see. Maybe Germany should ship its Turks back to their homeland.
Thank you, Christine Williams, for your fine article. You’ve done an outstanding job illuminating the gravity and extent of the threat that Turkey now poses to what remains of the West. Does Trump, I wonder, fully comprehend any or all of this?
“The Jewish state’s work is cut out for it.”
Why the small ‘s’ for State?
Why just Israel’s ‘work’ (‘work’ = ‘problem’)?
Because the rest of the world aids and abets Turkey?
Because the rest of the world aids and abets Turkey.
Because………
Proof that izzylum is satanic – lucifer-satan perverts and twists G-D’s Word right to tempting Yeshua Messiah Lord Jesus Christ with Old Testament writings.
“Erdogan has compared Netanyahu to Hitler, and declared: “Whoever is on the side of Israel, let everyone know that we are against them.”
Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you,
But I will curse those who curse you.
And through you I will bless all the nations.
Numbers 24:9 The nation is like a mighty lion;
When it is sleeping, no one dares wake it.
Whoever blesses Israel will be blessed,
And whoever curses Israel will be cursed.
Genesis 49:9 Judah is like a lion,
Killing his victim and returning to his den,
Stretching out and lying down.
No one dares disturb him.
And we will see this and are seeing it with hamass mistake of attacking Israel and any nation for that matter.
It’s not Islam, it’s Israel.
The joke’s on you.
Yeah, sure. Those Israeli’s have to be the luckiest people on earth. They have been fighting off every Empire for the past 4,000 years. All of those Empires are dead and buried in the dust of history, but Israel now claims #4 most powerful nation on earth. Man, they must be some lucky. Imagine losing 6 million people in WW2 then, with nothing but straggling survivors, no military (just a militia made up of WW2 survivors), no military equipment but a coupla WW2 vintage airplanes and a few tanks, they kicked the crap out of 5 attacking Islamic nations, armed with the best and newest planes, tanks and a 500,000 man army on their first day as a Nation after 2,000 years. Man, they just gotta be the luckiest people on the planet, unless…hmmm…unless their God is real and has their back. Now, what a novel idea. Their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has protected them for some 4,000 years and will continue to do so until He returns.
Yeah, that makes more sense than saying they are ‘satanic’. I guess satan wasn’t around for those 2,000 years, eh ??
Kat, the ‘curse’ is on you. Gen. 12:3 “Iwill curse those who curse you (Israel) and bless those who bless you”. Boy, are you in trouble.
Rev. Roy……….<
LOL……. What a moron!
Thanks Christine. Erdogan is a monster and close friends with Meloni and Rutte
Key question: Does America still have ultimate control of our nukes in Turkey. If not, how do we remove them? Turkey is the Taliban is Iran and maybe Pakistan Erdogan ,MUST be eliminated.
Why is Turkey a member of NATO in the first place?
An ISLAMIC (not Islam-“IST”) State cannot be considered as part of the FREE WORLD (or what’s left of it)..
Why would America defend Turkey?
Europe has surrendered to Islamic Demographic Jihad.
Turkey is putting their Ottoman Empire gang back together again. It will have most of Europe as its caliphate.
NATO serves no useful purpose.
Islam is the main enemy of Europe, Western Civilization and the Free World…not Russia.
Remember the battle of Vienna 1529!
Remember the Battle of Tours 32 AD!
Remember the battles against Nazism and Communism WWII!
All for naught since IslamoFascism is successfully continuing its 1400 year war against the West.
erdogan is no different to all muslim groups . they are either wearing suits or fatigues . they all belong to the cult of death and barbarism . the west remain delusional believing in dialogue talkfests . you know muslims are lying as soon as their lips move . similar to most politicians . it is already too late for the west . they are living on borrowed time .
Not them but: We are living on borrowed time
With a friend like Erdogan we won’t need an enemy. He will happily assist our demise.