‘May Allah destroy Israel,’ Erdoğan says in Eid al-Fitr prayer

Erdoğan has become more hostile toward Israel and closer to Hamas since the terrorist group’s onslaught on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

By Akiva Van Koningsveld, JNS

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan prayed for the destruction of Israel on Sunday, the country’s Türkiye Today online outlet reported.

“We see and know what is happening in Palestine,” Erdoğan said as he led Eid al-Fitr prayers marking the end of Ramadan at the Çamlıca Mosque in Istanbul, according to a translation by Türkiye Today.

“May Allah, for the sake of his name ‘Al-Qahhar,’ destroy and devastate Zionist Israel,” the Islamist Turkish president continued. “And may we all, witnessing what is happening there [in the Gaza Strip], stay united, strong and resilient as brothers; may Allah keep our unity everlasting.”

Al-Qahhar is one of the names of God in Islam and is often translated from Arabic as “The Conqueror,” “The Vanquisher,” or “The Subduer.”

In separate English-language remarks posted to Ankara’s official social media channels earlier on Sunday, Erdoğan wrote that “particularly the genocide taking place in Gaza is constantly reaching a more alarming dimension, with scenes that will tear out the heart of anyone who has even a little piece of conscience, morality, and reason.

“As Türkiye, we take a clear stance against this atrocity and work to heal the wounds of our brothers and sisters through our aid,” Erdoğan wrote in the statement, adding: “The upcoming period will Inshallah [‘God willing’] lead to an awakening on this issue all across the world.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry, which has reportedly been lobbying NATO member states to remove Turkey as a member due to its violation of the alliance’s founding principles in recent months, did not immediately respond to a request to comment on Erdoğan’s remarks on Sunday.

A spokesperson for NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s office referred JNS to Turkish authorities “for comment on the content and authenticity of the video.”

Erdoğan has become more hostile toward Israel and closer to Hamas since the terrorist group’s onslaught on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

In May 2024, the Turkish leader called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “vampire who feeds on blood,” urging Muslims to fight the Jewish state.

Two months later, Erdoğan told the U.S. magazine Newsweek that Palestinian terrorists from the Gaza Strip were “simply defending their homes, streets and homeland” when they murdered some 1,200 people, primarily civilians, on Oct. 7.

Also in July, Erdoğan openly threatened to invade the Jewish state. “We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to Palestine. Just as we entered Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we cannot do,” he said in a televised address.