Netanyahu’s first-ever recognition of the Armenian Genocide sparks furious backlash from Ankara, which accuses him of exploiting history to mask “genocide in Gaza.”
Turkey issued a scathing response on Wednesday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly recognized the Armenian Genocide for the first time, breaking decades of Israeli diplomatic caution on the subject.
In a statement carried by the state-run Anadolu agency, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry denounced Netanyahu’s remarks as “politically motivated and historically unfounded.” The ministry charged: “Netanyahu, who is on trial for his role in the genocide committed against the Palestinian people, is attempting to cover up the crimes he and his government have committed.”
The condemnation escalated further, with Ankara declaring: “We condemn and reject this statement, which is incompatible with historical and legal facts.”
Burhanettin Duran, head of Turkey’s Communications Directorate, reinforced the attack, writing on Turkish platform NSosyal: “At a time when thousands of innocent people in Gaza are being subjected to systematic genocide, with children, the elderly, and women dying from bombs and starvation, Netanyahu’s statements regarding the events of 1915 are blatant hypocrisy that exploits history and law.”
Netanyahu made his surprise declaration on Tuesday during the PBD Podcast hosted by Patrick Bet-David. When asked why he had never recognized the Armenian Genocide, Netanyahu bluntly replied: “I just did.”
For decades, Israel has avoided officially recognizing the 1915–1917 Ottoman-era massacres of Armenians — in which an estimated 1.5 million were killed — as genocide, largely out of concern for relations with Turkey. Previous attempts in the Knesset to pass recognition measures were blocked due to government opposition.
But relations between Ankara and Jerusalem have dramatically soured since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel, which killed 1,200 and saw 251 hostages dragged into Gaza. Since then, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has escalated his rhetoric, branding Israel a “terror state” in March and later claiming Netanyahu’s government is the “biggest threat to Middle East security.”
Netanyahu’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide signals a profound geopolitical shift — one likely to deepen the rift between Israel and Turkey, once close regional allies.
