According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Israel wants to conquer land all the way from the Nile River right up into Anatolia with the ambition to end Islam and destroy Turkey.

“Hamas and the Palestinian people are not only defending their own lands. They are also defending Anatolia,” Erdoğan commented, according to the Middle East Eye on May 15. He warned that if Israel is not stopped in Gaza, “this rogue and terrorist state will set its sights on Anatolia sooner or later.”

Erdoğan hails Hamas and the Palestinian people as freedom fighters against what he calls the “bloodthirsty” and “terrorist state” of Israel. He has showed his support by hosting Hamas leaders in Turkey after their attack on October 7. In early May, Turkey stopped bilateral trade with Israel, demanding that humanitarian aid flow into Gaza unhindered. He said:

No one should expect us to soften our words. They are as spoiled as they are barbaric. They killed people with the deadliest weapons, hunger and thirst. They took people out of their homes and directed them to supposedly safe areas. They massacred civilians in safe areas.

Erdoğan publicly slams Israel as much as he supports Hamas. In May, he described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “a vampire who feeds on blood.” He said, “Netanyahu and his administration, with their crimes against humanity in Gaza, are writing their names next to Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, like today’s Nazis.”

These are bold statements. If Erdoğan is publicly spouting hateful lies about Israel, what is he doing behind closed doors?

This isn’t just a loudmouth politician speaking his mind without thinking through the consequences. Erdoğan clearly intends for his words to be taken seriously.

Where did he get the notion that Israel is out to get Turkey? A lot of his ideas can be traced back to his political mentor, Necmettin Erbakan, an avowed anti-Semite and promoted conspiracies about the Jews having a secret ambition to create a world state. Weekly protests featuring the burning of Israeli flags were commonplace during Erbakan’s time as prime minister from 1996 to 1997. His son, Fatih Erbakan, continued his Jew-hating legacy and demanded after October 7 that an arrest warrant be made for Netanyahu.

But the roots go back much further than the last 30 years.

The Bible reveals that the people of Turkey descended from Esau, also known as Edom, the grandson of the famous patriarch Abraham. Anciently, Esau lost his birthright to his twin brother, Jacob, whose descendants include the nation of Israel. That animosity has remained between the two brothers throughout the millenniums.

In the near future, God will severely condemn Turkey for having “rejoiced over the children of Judah [modern Israel] in the day of their destruction …” (Obadiah 12).

This destruction will be brought on by an alliance outlined in Psalm 83, which includes Turkey and the Palestinians. Verses 5-7 say, “For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom [Turkey] … the Philistines [Palestine] ….”

In “A Mysterious Prophecy,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote, “There has never been such an alliance to attack or totally destroy Israel in history.”

Erdoğan’s hatred for Israel is fulfilling Turkey’s prophesied defiance of God’s command not to “speak arrogantly [jeering and maliciously mocking] in the day of their distress” (Obadiah 12; Amplified Version).

Soon Turkey will join an alliance that will take the modern nations of Israel into captivity.

To learn more, read “The Turkish Betrayal.”