Turkey’s presidential communications chief on Thursday condemned an attack on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz after Erdoğan urged world leaders to press Israel over its assault on Gaza in a speech at the United Nations.
Katz called Erdoğan a “paper sultan” in a post on X and accused him of abusing Kurds in Turkey. He also criticized Turkey’s response to attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Houthis, invoking a defense pact that Ankara signed with Riyadh and Pakistan last month.
Erdoğan had called Gaza “our time’s most inhumane, most embarrassing concentration camp” at the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. He urged countries that have yet to recognize a Palestinian state to do so and called for more pressure on Israel to end its assault.
Erdoğan’s call contrasts with his government’s own record. In “Gaza Genocide: a collective crime,” UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese named Turkey among countries whose transport infrastructure helped sustain Israel’s genocide in Gaza. She listed Turkish ports among facilities used for shipments to Israel and noted that some trade had continued indirectly despite Ankara’s announced trade halt.
A United Nations commission of inquiry concluded in 2025 that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and said in June that the acts were continuing. Separately, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Erdoğan’s communications chief, Burhanettin Duran, responded that Katz’s insults could not conceal the Israeli government’s “genocidal record” in Gaza. He said the government faced grave accusations before the international community and under international law. Referring to Katz’s portrayal of Erdoğan as a sultan, Duran suggested that the Israeli minister was learning history from Turkish television dramas.
Katz’s reference to Kurds brought another rights issue into the exchange. Turkey’s parliament passed a law in August to support the disbandment of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group that has fought the Turkish state for four decades. Kurdish politicians have called for broader rights and justice reforms, while Human Rights Watch has criticized the imprisonment of Kurdish politicians for nonviolent activity.
Katz also accused Erdoğan of abandoning his pledge to help Saudi Arabia after Houthi attacks. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Saturday that Turkey was ready to meet Saudi military needs under the pact, particularly for technical support. Ankara has condemned the Houthi attacks and called for them to stop.
