Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has called on Israel to cease its provocations against Türkiye and military operations that would undermine the country’s national security, in a reaction to the Netanyahu government’s latest attack on a military base in northern Syria.
“Whether it is a manifestation of historical expansionism and disregard for the law, or an attempt targeting the upcoming elections; what has been done is an unacceptable assault on law, peace and regional tranquility,” Bahçeli said in a written statement issued on Aug. 21.
Bahçeli’s MHP is the closest ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
He referred to the Israeli army’s attack on a defunct military base in northern Syria, located just 70 kilometers away from the Turkish border, on the pretext that Türkiye was mulling to reconstruct the facility and deploy troops there. Both Ankara and Damascus have denied these claims.
“In the face of its aggressive policies that threaten regional peace and security, neutralizing Israel within the framework of international law has become an urgent necessity,” the MHP leader stated.
Bahçeli criticized the Israeli government for escalating anti-Turkish sentiments and rhetoric in Israel and beyond.
“Provoking Türkiye, testing Türkiye’s patience, attempting actions that could constitute direct or indirect interference in our country’s national security domains, and engaging in rhetoric that emboldens anti-Türkiye circles must be abandoned,” he said.
Türkiye is “not a country that seeks confrontation, but it does not mean it will ignore threats against it and attempts to violate Türkiye’s sovereign rights and interests,” Bahçeli said.
“It is a grave strategic error for the Israeli administration to perceive Türkiye’s capacity to generate peace and stability as a threat to itself. Türkiye’s goal is not to go to war with any country, including Israel,” the MHP leader added.
“However, no one should fall into the error of interpreting Türkiye’s will for peace as weakness, its restraint as helplessness, or its approach that prioritizes diplomacy as a lack of deterrence.”
