Turkey’s Erdogan urges the formation of an Islamic alliance against Israel

Islamic nations should unite against “the growing threat of expansionism” from Israel, according to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who made this statement on Saturday.

He made the statement following the description of what Palestinian and Turkish officials claimed to be the Israeli troops’ assassination of an American-Turkish woman who was participating in a demonstration on Friday against the Israeli-occupied West Bank’s settlement development.

“The alliance of Islamic countries is the only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, Israeli banditry, and Israeli state terrorism,” Erdogan declared during an event hosted by an Islamic schools’ association near Istanbul.

“Forming a line of solidarity against the growing threat of expansionism,” which he said also threatened Lebanon and Syria, is the goal of the recent actions Turkey has made to strengthen ties with Egypt and Syria, he said.

In what was the first such presidential visit in twelve years, Erdogan received Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi this week in Ankara. During their conversation, they talked about the Gaza conflict and how to further thaw their long-frozen ties.

2020 saw the beginning of the healing of ties between them as Turkey launched diplomatic initiatives to reduce hostilities with bitter regional adversaries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In July, Erdogan declared that Turkey would summon Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “anytime” for potential negotiations to mend the strained relationship between the two neighbors, which had been ruptured in 2011 following the start of the Syrian civil war.

Israel did not respond to Erdogan’s Saturday comments right away.

The military in Israel declared following the incident on Friday that it was investigating claims that a female foreign person “was killed as a result of shots fired in the area.” We are reviewing the incident’s specifics and the circumstances surrounding her hit.

Regarding Friday’s incident, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately provide a statement.