An Israeli government decision two days ago to recognize what it called the “Armenian genocide” committed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 has poured fuel on a Turkish-Israeli dispute that has been escalating for nearly three years.
The rift has reached unprecedented levels of mutual accusation between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Israeli government decision still needs approval by parliament, the Knesset, to take effect. But Türkiye responded sharply, calling it an attempt to cover up the genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement overnight Sunday to Monday that “the Israeli government, which systematically oppresses the Palestinian people before the eyes of the entire world, and is being tried before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide against the people of Gaza, seeks to cover up its crimes through the political decision it has taken regarding the events of 1915.”
The events that befell Armenians under the Ottoman Empire remain a disputed, unresolved issue and a sensitive file for Türkiye, which strongly rejects the term “genocide.” Previous Israeli governments avoided formally recognizing what is known as the “Armenian genocide” in an effort to preserve ties with Türkiye, once one of Israel’s closest strategic partners in the region.
Regional shifts since Oct. 7, 2023, have pushed Tel Aviv and Ankara further apart, with their positions diverging and clashing in several arenas, most notably Syria and the Mediterranean.
The mounting dispute prompted US President Donald Trump to say about two weeks ago that “as long as I am president, there will be no deterioration in relations between Israel and Türkiye.”
Some Israeli analysts believe Netanyahu’s government is manufacturing a crisis in the hope that Trump will step in with a proposal that restores Israeli-Turkish ties, imposes security arrangements in Syria that serve Israel’s interests, and produces other understandings linked to gas projects between Asia and Europe, planned through Turkish territory and which Israel is seeking to pull away from Türkiye.
Thirty-one countries, according to official Armenian data, recognize the “genocide.” Israel has repeatedly hinted, whenever tensions with Türkiye rose, that it could take the same position.
Handshake in New York
Days before the war in Gaza erupted in October 2023, Erdogan and Netanyahu were photographed shaking hands in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The image marked a historic moment in a diplomatic normalization track that began in 2021 and was followed by plans for mutual visits by the two leaders.
The handshake broke an 11-year public freeze caused by Israel’s attack on the Mavi Marmara, part of the “Freedom Flotilla” to Gaza, in late May 2010.
As the Gaza war unfolded, Türkiye announced it was cutting trade ties with Israel and described Hamas as a liberation and resistance movement. Erdogan sharply called Netanyahu “a killer who has surpassed what Hitler did to the Jews,” while Netanyahu called him an “antisemitic dictator.”
Türkiye also joined a case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice accusing Netanyahu’s government of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The escalation went as far as Israeli officials hinting that the next target after the war with Iran would be Türkiye, a NATO member. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan dismissed the prospect, while military officials said Israel could not take such a step.
Crisis of trust
Ilkim Buke Okyar, a professor at Türkiye’s Yeditepe University, sees Türkiye’s relationship with Israel as tied to its relationship with the United States. She says that, “whether Türkiye wants it or not, it cannot take a position outside the US-Israeli axis, and Netanyahu understands that.”
Türkiye has become part of the main mediation group on the Gaza ceasefire agreement, alongside Egypt and Qatar, since the deal was announced in October 2025. It also frequently hosts Hamas delegations that meet Turkish security and political officials.
Serhat Erkmen, an advisor at Türkiye’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, says “the military dimension is the most important reason for describing Turkish-Israeli relations as strategic,” noting “the stagnation in this file since 2010” and ruling out the prospect that it would be affected by tensions in relations.
But Fidan said in November 2024 that Türkiye had submitted a joint letter to the United Nations, signed by 52 countries and two organizations, demanding a halt to the supply and delivery of weapons to Israel.
Haydar Oruc, a Turkish academic specializing in Middle East affairs, concludes that “Türkiye and Israel have moved far away from the concept of strategic partnership that prevailed between them in the 1990s, and now suffer from a crisis of trust.” He rules out any improvement in relations “unless there is a change in leadership on one side, or perhaps on all sides.”
What about Jerusalem’s Armenians?
Jerusalem’s Armenians, who number about 5,000 and whose roots in the city date back to the fourth century, appear to know better than anyone that the Israeli government’s approval of a proposal for “official recognition of the Armenian genocide” has nothing to do with them.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the recognition was “not an act of revenge for the explicit hostility” shown by Türkiye toward Israel, but rather “a moral duty,” as he put it. But Armenians in Israeli-occupied Jerusalem face a plan of displacement and uprooting prepared by the same Israeli government.
About eight months ago, the Armenian Patriarchate warned in a statement that it was “facing the greatest existential threat in its history.” Two days later, all patriarchs and heads of churches in the city issued a statement supporting the Armenian Patriarchate and the Armenian community.
In the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which ended about a year ago, Israel backed Azerbaijan with weapons. Azerbaijan is an important security and strategic partner for Tel Aviv, and Israel paid no heed to Armenia’s requests that it remain neutral.
It is not only Armenians. Many Israelis also know well that their government’s decision was driven by spite and revenge against Türkiye, not by concern for Armenians or human rights.
Previous attempts to move toward recognition of the “Armenian genocide” show the maneuvering that has long surrounded the file.
The rebuttal of Israel’s stated purpose is strongly present even among longtime supporters of recognition, most notably Zehava Galon, the former leader of the left-wing Meretz party, who supports recognition in principle and led parliamentary campaigns from 2009 to make it official.
After the government announcement, Galon wrote: “I wish I could say that the government’s decision now is a great moral victory, but it is not. It is no different from the desperate attempts by previous governments to evade this recognition. Genocide, or crimes, are used by this government as a commodity whose value changes according to interest. We have a government of war criminals.”
She continued: “There is an open arrest warrant against the prime minister at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and members of the government have used the authority given to them to call themselves for the commission of war crimes. This government is made up of people who said there is no neutral person in Gaza, asked that the idea of dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip be considered, demanded the starvation of millions, and indeed starved them, and demanded the extermination of entire communities, and indeed did so. Now this ‘humanitarian’ suddenly remembers compassion for the victims of the Ottoman Empire. Those who quickly led us to the dock in The Hague are now preaching justice. Shame.”
The Israeli government majority in parliament thwarted recognition attempts in 2016 and 2018, after lawmakers tried to advance motions and soften their wording. The calculation was always based on the position toward Erdogan: whenever he takes a decision Israel dislikes, they pull out this card against him.
Azerbaijan and Armenia weigh in
The Turkish-Israeli dispute over the “Armenian genocide” has drawn in other parties, most notably Azerbaijan, whose Foreign Ministry on Monday called Israel’s decision “concerning,” despite the strong ties between Tel Aviv and Baku.
It said the Israeli decision, “turning complex historical processes into a subject for political decisions, far from legal and scientific foundations, is unacceptable, does not serve reconciliation and mutual understanding, and harms efforts to achieve sustainable peace and reconciliation in the region.”
Azerbaijan’s position stems from its close relationship with Türkiye, which cut ties and closed its borders with Armenia in 1993 in full solidarity with Azerbaijan after Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. Türkiye strongly supported Azerbaijan, a member of the Organization of Turkic States, in its 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh, when Azerbaijan regained control of it.
Since 2021, Türkiye and Armenia have held talks to normalize relations and resolve outstanding disputes. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited Türkiye in 2023 and has met Erdogan more than once on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Azerbaijan and Armenia reached agreement last year on the text of a peace treaty, helping push Armenian-Turkish relations forward.
In a striking reaction from Armenia, Pashinyan said “the issue is being exploited politically, and we see no need to respond, because we believe Armenia’s interest lies in not taking part in attempts to turn the Armenian genocide issue into a political weapon,” according to Armenia’s Armenpress news agency on Tuesday.
As part of the normalization track with Ankara, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said in 2024 that international recognition of the “genocide” was no longer a priority in its foreign policy.
