President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned against Israel's threats to regional stability, as he said Türkiye is in favor of a safe and prosperous region.
"Israel, which has the political, military and economic support of Western countries, set its eyes on neighboring countries, posing a threat to regional stability," Erdoğan told reporters following a Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara on Tuesday.
He noted that no country in the region, including Türkiye, can feel safe as long as Israeli aggression under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration is not stopped.
He called Netanyahu a murderer, who has lost his mind and conscience and feeds on the blood of innocent people and even disregards the security of his own citizens by escalating tensions in the region.
President Erdoğan has been criticizing Western nations for backing Israeli “plans to spread the war” into Lebanon, after fresh Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon.
The border between Israel and Lebanon has seen daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah ever since the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion triggered the war on Gaza.
Türkiye pledged solidarity with Lebanon and has been a virulent critic of Israel, has hosted Hamas leaders and welcomes the Palestinian resistance group as a liberation movement, unlike the majority of the Western world.
Ankara has repeatedly called on the U.N. Security Council and the U.S., Israel’s biggest military provider, to exert pressure on Israel to accept a cease-fire proposal.
Regarding the recent tensions in Syria, Erdoğan said Ankara has been striving to find a political solution and has taken some concrete steps through different channels to prevent bloodshed. He continued by saying that further steps could be taken to enhance peace and that Türkiye does not pose a threat to Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
"The protection of Syria's national unity is also Türkiye's priority," the president said, adding that the sole purpose of Ankara's counterterrorism operations in northern Syria is to prevent the establishment of a terrorist state near its border.
Regarding the voluntary return of Syrians, the president said 670,000 have returned so far and they expect another million to return to their homeland, which is facilitated by Türkiye and Qatar's joint safe zone efforts.
On Türkiye's foreign policy, Erdoğan said: "We believe it is beneficial to open clenched fists in foreign policy. We will not hesitate to meet with whoever is necessary for this purpose."
He said Türkiye will continue to ensure the security of "our country and our people" as long as there are "bloodthirsty groups" in Syria with their guns pointed toward it.
Commenting on violence and negative social media trends after a crime by a Syrian national in the city of Kayseri on Sunday, Erdoğan said Türkiye "will resolve the issue of refugees not based on prejudices or fears, but with rational, conscientious framework based on realities of the country and economy."
"Public order is a red line for our state. Regardless of the excuse, we will not tolerate this line being crossed or violated," he said.
"Just as we know how to break the dirty hands reaching for our flag, we also know how to break the hands reaching out to the innocent people who have taken refuge in our country," the Turkish president said.
After Kayseri, similar riots broke out in cities from Antalya to Gaziantep though they were smaller in scale. The riots escalated due to attacks on the Turkish flag in Syria. Like in Kayseri, rioters targeted Syrian residences and businesses. Videos circulating on social media showed crowds beating Syrians or people they thought to be Syrian refugees on the street.
Türkiye is home to at least 3.6 million Syrian refugees who fled the civil war in 2012, most of whom are under temporary protection status.
Growing far-right anti-refugee sentiments have increased the risk of violence against immigrants in Türkiye in recent years, where many refugees have been subjected to attacks in various towns across the country upon rumors they were involved in cases of rape or murders against the local population.
