Turkey’s president has blasted the West’s hypocrisy for shedding “crocodile tears” over civilian deaths in Ukraine, while idly standing by as Israel devastates Gaza.
Antony Blinken visited Turkey on Monday with the mission of appeasing the anger of one of Washington’s most strategic but also most difficult allies, amid the war in Gaza.
The US secretary of state met his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan for the first time since fighting broke out between Israel and Hamas on 7 October.
Turkey’s foreign minister asked Blinken for an “immediate” ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, stressing that it was “necessary to prevent Israel from targetting civilians and displacing people,” according to an anonymous Turkish diplomatic source.
Their meeting comes amid surging anger against Israel and the West in Turkey and the wider region.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chose to visit a remote region in the northeast of the country on Monday, seemingly a snub to Blinken.
Turkish police on Sunday used tear gas and water cannons to disperse hundreds of protesters who had gathered outside an air base housing US forces in southeastern Turkey.
Israel’s unrelenting attacks on Gaza have killed some 10,000 people, half of them children, according to the besieged enclave’s health ministry.
Their military operation began after Hamas fighters killed more than 1,400 people and took more than 240 hostages to the Gaza Strip, say the Israeli authorities.
Fighting threatens to have significant repercussions on relations between Washington and Turkey, both a member of NATO and involved in conflicts in the Middle East.
Tensions beyond the Middle East
A number of issues are blighting the relationship between the US and Turkey outside of the Israel Hamas war.
Washington is growing frustrated at the Turkish Parliament’s delays in giving the green light to Sweden’s membership in NATO, which is currently blocked.
The United States has also increased sanctions on Turkish individuals and companies suspected of helping Russia evade sanctions and import equipment used in its war against Ukraine.
