The Center Against Disinformation of Turkey’s Communications Directorate has denied claims circulating on social media and in various foreign media outlets alleging that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had issued a threat to invade Israel; the fake news, which was based on a quote taken out of context from a speech delivered by the Turkish president in 2024, has finally been withdrawn by some media outlets.
In an official statement, the Turkish agency categorically rejected the accusations attributing to Erdoğan an alleged warning of a Turkish invasion of Israel, describing them as completely unfounded and emphasizing that this information not only does not reflect reality but also seeks to undermine stability in the region. The text states that “The Republic of Türkiye, in line with its century-old state tradition and vision, has always assumed a leadership role to stop the bloodshed, protect civilians, and establish a lasting peace in our region and elsewhere,” according to reports by Turkish media outlets.
The statement added that Turkey has historically prioritized international law and diplomatic channels to resolve crises and conflicts in the Middle East and other regions: “Our country adopts an approach that reduces tension, not increases it. Under the leadership of our President, Türkiye prioritizes the peaceful, safe, and prosperous lives of the peoples of the region without any discrimination.”
The agency also warned against the spread of manipulated content on social media that seeks to distort Turkey’s political and humanitarian stance, urging the public not to give credence to such misinformation. “Our country will continue to be the voice of justice, peace, and common sense in the region, today as it has been in the past,” the statement concluded.
Media and social media widely circulated the false news
Turkey was responding to numerous reports circulated on Sunday via social media, which were also echoed by prominent media outlets such as the Hindustan Times and the British The Daily Telegraph, claiming — showing various videos — that Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan had threatened an attack or an invasion of Israel, and claiming that, were it not for the mediation of Pakistan, Turkey would have responded militarily to the Israeli attacks against Lebanon.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the ‘news’ had been fabricated based on — among other sources — a speech delivered by Erdoğan in 2024, which was misrepresented and repackaged by British and Israeli media as if they were recent statements; both the information shared by various social media accounts and that appearing in international media cited alleged ‘statements’ taken from videos that, in fact, did not correspond to reality and had not been made by the President of Turkey.
Following complaints from several social media users, The Telegraph confirmed that it had decided to remove the story after verifying that it was unverified and baseless. Others, such as the Hindustan Times, did not comment openly, but the false story about Erdoğan’s alleged threats against Israel had disappeared by Monday from its timeline on the social media platform X. Other media outlets, however, such as the English-language Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post, have not deleted the story and continue to cite the false information as a source in their English edition.
The information was disseminated shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked his own controversy on social media by accusing the Turkish president of supporting Iran and proxies such as Hezbollah and of “massacring his own Kurdish citizens”: words that were harshly rebuked by several Turkish government ministers, who asserted that Turkey “will continue to stand by innocent civilians and press for Netanyahu to be held accountable for his crimes”.
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Edited and reviewed by:
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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