Erdoğan’s Al Jazeera Interview: Turkey Seeks Peace but Will Fight if Attacked

He also called Israel’s attacks on Lebanon a serious concern for Turkey. Other reporting on the interview said Erdoğan identified Israel as the main cause or initiator of the current regional war; that is best understood as his political assessment, not as an independently established fact about responsibility for the conflict.

Reports also attributed to Erdoğan the accusation that Israel’s government had become dependent on war. Because that wording comes through secondary reporting rather than a full published transcript in the material available here, it should be treated as an attributed characterization rather than presented as independently verified language.

Gaza diplomacy: what the evidence shows

The available coverage supports Erdoğan’s view that Hamas had acted in good faith on its commitments under the Gaza peace effort, while Israel continued military action.

It does not provide enough detail to state precisely how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Hamas formally assessed every element of Donald Trump’s Gaza plan. Nor does it substantiate all reported details about Jared Kushner’s mediation or Trump’s private concerns. Separate reporting does confirm that Kushner met Hamas leaders in Egypt while seeking to advance Trump’s Gaza plan, which Israel had rejected at that stage.

Turkey’s position on Iran, Syria and Lebanon

Erdoğan’s regional message extended beyond Israel and Gaza. He called for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen and said Turkey and Iran supported keeping oil moving through the strategic waterway. Al Jazeera’s reporting also identified the reopening of Hormuz as a priority for him and again highlighted Ankara’s concern over Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

On Syria, Erdoğan pledged Turkish support for stability and indicated that he planned to visit the country. He also said Turkey would not abandon neighbouring countries facing regional turmoil, according to reporting on the interview.

The broader Turkish position was also reflected in officials’ statements that the Mecca defence agreement does not identify Iran—or any other country—as a common threat.

What the Mecca defence agreement does

The agreement signed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in Mecca establishes a collective-defence principle: an armed attack on one member is to be regarded as an attack on all three.

Erdoğan said the pact does not target any country. He described it as a message of peace, prosperity and stability, based on collective deterrence, and said it remained open to other countries that shared those aims.

The arrangement is therefore both a security commitment and a diplomatic signal. Its stated language is defensive and does not name Israel, Iran or another common adversary, even though regional analysts have viewed the pact against the backdrop of escalating tensions and Israel’s regional policies.

Could Egypt join?

Erdoğan said Egyptian participation was possible. He did not announce that Egypt had joined or that Cairo had made a final decision. The agreement remains open to additional members, but the supplied reporting supports only the possibility of Egypt’s accession at this stage.

That distinction matters: the pact currently links three signatories, while Egypt’s potential participation would broaden its regional reach only if a formal decision were later made. Coverage of the interview and subsequent statements described the proposed expansion as a future option rather than a completed step.

What remains unverified in the available reporting

Some details associated with the interview cannot be confirmed from the supplied evidence alone. These include the precise wording or context of former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s reported warning that Turkey could be Israel’s “next target,” an Istanbul court’s alleged request to Interpol concerning Benjamin Netanyahu, and the exact positions of Netanyahu and Hamas on every part of Trump’s Gaza plan.

The strongest supported conclusion is narrower: Erdoğan presented Turkey as a country seeking peace but prepared to defend itself, blamed Israel’s military conduct for worsening regional instability in his own assessment, backed stability in Syria and opposition to a wider war with Iran, and promoted the Mecca pact as an open collective-deterrence framework that Egypt might eventually join.