President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday evening that Turkey could consider intervening in Israel as it has done in other countries, but without specifying what that would look like.
“We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these ridiculous things to Palestine. Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we might do similar to them,” he said during a speech about the Turkish defense industry.
“There is no reason why we cannot do this … We must be strong so that we can take these steps,” he said in his televised address.
Erdogan has been openly critical of Israel’s operations in Gaza, despite attempts to bring the two Middle Eastern powers closer before October 7.
The interventions that Erdogan referred to offered little to explain what he meant with his comment.
In 2020, Turkish military personnel were deployed to support the United Nations-recognized Government of National Accord of Libya.
As for Nagorno-Karabakh, Ankara has previously denied involvement in the invasion by its close allies in Azerbaijan of the former enclave under ethnic Armenian control.
However, last year Turkey said it was using “all means”, including military training and modernization, to support Azerbaijan’s efforts.
ab/sri (Reuters, AFP, AP, EFE, dpa)