There are no two Erdogans. We should stop deluding ourselves. There is only one type of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and he has once again shown his true colors in recent days. If the president of Turkey insists, even after the Nazi massacre perpetrated by Hamas, that this Islamic movement is not a terrorist organization, then we can declare this Muslim leader – who made amends with Israel in September in order to become popular with Joe Biden, is de facto a terrorist supporter.
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Erdogan has been a patron and protector of the Muslim Brotherhood for years. The Turkish president has relentlessly pursued the restoration of the glorious days of the Ottoman Empire and Islamic caliphate and sees himself as a reincarnation of Saladin and Sultan Suleiman.
Video: Shoes of the kidnapped Israelis on display / Dor Malul
The connection between Erdogan and Hamas has been long-standing. The Turkish president and the murderer Saleh al-Aruri, linked to the October 7 massacre, are old friends. Aruri, now hosted by Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon, and the "exiled leaders," alongside many senior members of Hamas, enjoyed luxurious hospitality in Erdogan's Turkey for many years. Some of them were even naturalized there. Some planned and directed terrorism from there. Turkey and Erdogan have long evaded dealing with them and keeping them away from their territory.
Aruri was given responsibility for the abduction and murder of the three boys in 2014, which led to Operation Protective Edge. From Turkish territory, Hisham Badran, the freed Shalit Deal operative, transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund terrorist activities in Nablus. Turkey has been home to many senior Hamas figures – heavy terrorists, with or without blood on their hands.
Turkey, under Erdogan's leadership, which does not see Hamas as a terrorist organization, was where plots were hatched, including the attacks that were foiled at the Malha Mall and the central bus station in Jerusalem, Teddy Stadium, the light rail in the capital, in Be'er Sheva, and the Tel Hashomer base. Turkish Hamas planned a coup against the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria and helped Hamas with money through convoluted channels. Also, the murder of the Henkin couple in 2015 was planned from Turkey.
Training courses and skill development for Hamas activists have taken place on Turkish soil. Turkish Hamas also planned to assassinate Israeli public figures, and numerous terrorist cells in Judea and Samaria got help from activists who got shelter from Erdogan. Maher Salah, who was once defined as the Hamas leader abroad, has hosted over the years incitement conferences held in Turkey.
In one of them, a few years ago, he turned directly to Prime Minister Netanyahu and promised, "The end of your state will pass from the world, the end of your kingdom. I promise him (Netanyahu, PM) that his state will not celebrate 100 years." Erdogan, his host, also occasionally slipped into Hamas terminology when he cited the Hadith on "the trees and the rocks," which is quoted in the Hamas charter calling for the destruction of Israel.
It deals with the Muslim "Judgment Day" war against the Jews: "The stones and the trees will say, 'Oh Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.' Erdogan warned, "The hour will not begin until the Muslims fight the Jews, until a Jew hides behind a rock or a tree, and the rock or tree will say: 'O Muslim, O slave of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and take him.'"
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