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‘Our Martyrs Are the Same’: Turkish Leaders Accuse Israel of Seeking Territorial Expansion Beyond Gaza
Supporters of Hamas demonstrating outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul. Photo: Reuters/Onur Dogman
The son of Turkey’s president on Friday called on fellow citizens to attend a New Year’s Day march in Istanbul billed as a gesture of support for Palestinian “martyrs,” alleging that Israel’s goal in its war against Hamas was to occupy more territory that rightfully belonged to Muslims.
In an extensive interview with broadcaster TVNET, Bilal Erdogan — the second of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s four children — railed against those Turkish politicians he claimed were opposed to the march and insisted that Western governments were out of step with public opinion in their support for the Israeli military offensive in Gaza triggered by the Oct 7. pogrom carried out by Hamas terrorists.
The younger Erdogan asserted that there was an organic connection between Turkey and the Palestinians. “The killers of Palestinian martyrs and the killers of our martyrs are the same,” he said. “Those who press this button are from the same centers.”
President Erdogan has himself made similar claims, stating in a Dec. 4 speech that Israel’s military response would eventually pose a threat to Turkey’s “own security and territorial integrity.”
“We know very well that those who occupy Gaza today will set their sights on other places tomorrow,” Erdogan told a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). “As a matter of fact, they do not even feel the need to hide these intentions anymore. Gaza butcher Netanyahu himself revealed in front of the cameras that the issue is not Gaza or Ramallah but that he is pursuing expansionist goals.”
In his interview on Friday, Bilal Erdogan echoed his father’s rhetoric, demonizing Israel as “Nazi” and calling for its leaders to be tried for war crimes. He also turned on Turkish critics of the government’s foreign policy, calling them “agents of Israel.”
“May Allah punish those who make such a polarization of society, and may Allah damn them,” he ranted.
On Friday, Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) issued a damning critique of Erdogan’s foreign policy, accusing the president of using Turkish diplomacy to further his own ends.
In a statement, the party’s foreign policy spokesperson, Ilhan Uzgel, argued that Turkish foreign policy had never been as “personalized” as it is now.
“We don’t know what Erdogan is negotiating with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he said. “There is no longer any relationship between Turkey and Qatar, there is a relationship between Erdogan and the Emir of Qatar. What is the benefit of this to Turkey, what is the harm, we do not know.”
Turkey has ridden a wave of antisemitism since the Oct. 7 atrocities. Among the legislative proposals currently being debated by the Turkish parliament is a ban on individuals from holding joint Turkish and Israeli citizenship and another on the sale of land in Northern Cyprus — illegally occupied by Turkey since 1974 — to “Jews and Israelis.”
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip
Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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