Overview

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for 'destruction and misery' upon Israel during a speech marking the start of the Sugar Festival on March 30, 2025.
• Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned Erdogan's remarks as antisemitic and described him as a danger to the region and his own people.
• The Turkish Foreign Ministry rejected accusations of antisemitism, framing Erdogan's comments as resistance to what it called 'Zionist harassment and defamation.'
• Relations between Turkey and Israel are at a historic low, exacerbated by Erdogan's past controversial rhetoric, including calling Israel a 'terror state' and supporting Hamas as a 'liberation organization.'
• The ongoing crisis underscores deep geopolitical and ideological divides in the Middle East, with little sign of diplomatic progress between the two nations.