Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen announced that Israel has decided to withdraw its diplomatic staff in Turkey, including Ambassador Irit Lillian, to reassess its ties with Turkey following statements made by Turkish authorities – including Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan – about Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, which has left more than 8,300 Palestinians dead as the Israeli army continues to push tanks and troops into the northern Gaza Strip.
“Given the serious statements coming from Turkey, I have ordered the return of diplomatic representatives in that country to conduct a reassessment of relations between Israel and Turkey,” Cohen said in a statement posted on the social network X. Lillian and other members of Israel’s diplomatic corps in Turkey returned to Israel on 19 October citing security reasons following anti-Israel protests in several cities of Turkey.
While Erdoğan has insisted that Turkey does not have any problem with Israel but with its government, during this weekend’s massive demonstration in Istanbul the Turkish president did not hesitate to accuse the Israeli authorities of committing “war crimes“. This new source of tension between Israel and Turkey comes barely a year after the two countries decided to normalise diplomatic relations after years without ambassadors in Ankara and Tel Aviv, respectively. For now, the Turkish government has not said whether it will also withdraw its diplomatic staff in Israel.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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