ANKARA, Türkiye (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan He has made it clear that he will not accept the Prime Minister of Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu A senior official said on Tuesday that Israeli leaders will not attend a high-level summit in Egypt, adding that the Turkish government plans to prevent Israeli leaders from attending the meeting.
The statement by Erdogan’s ruling party spokesman Omer Çelik was the first public confirmation that Turkey had been actively working to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from participating in Monday’s rally. Summit at the Red Sea Resort of Sharm El Sheikh The aim was to support the ceasefire in Gaza.
President Erdoğan, whose government maintains ties with Hamas, was one of the signatories of the Four-Party Declaration along with Hamas. US President Donald Trump and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined to comment Tuesday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially accepted a last-minute invitation to attend the summit, but he later announced that he would not attend, citing a Jewish holiday.
On Monday, a Turkish government official who requested anonymity to discuss the matter told The Associated Press that Erdogan, a vocal critic of Netanyahu’s military actions in Gaza, had launched diplomatic efforts to prevent Netanyahu from attending. The official said Turkey’s initiative had the support of several other countries and ultimately led to Netanyahu’s withdrawal.
“The president’s position is absolutely clear,” Çelik told reporters. “He will never accept being in the same picture frame as Prime Minister Netanyahu. He will never accept being in the same summit. He will never accept sitting at the same table.”
Çelik said Turkey always prepares multiple scenarios ahead of such summits. “Prime Minister Netanyahu’s participation was initially off the table,” he said. “But we are preparing for every scenario, so we were already thinking about how we would respond if such a situation were to arise.”
On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani also warned Egyptian and U.S. officials that he would withdraw from the summit if Netanyahu attended, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency.
President Erdogan did not comment publicly on Türkiye’s role in preventing Netanyahu from attending.
In a speech on Tuesday, President Erdogan hailed the declaration signed in Egypt as an important step towards stopping what he called “genocide” in Gaza. President Erdogan has repeatedly accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, a claim Israel strongly denies.
Despite the breakthrough, the scars of two years of intense suffering may never fully heal, and rebuilding Gaza will be a long process, Turkey’s president said.
“The devastation caused by the genocide may never be fully repaired,” he said. “Rebuilding Gaza will likely take many years.”
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plane canceled its landing in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday due to problems with the runway, according to the government-linked Hürriyet newspaper. The report denied claims that the presidential plane circled over the Red Sea as Erdogan threatened to boycott the talks.
