Türkiye barring Israeli president from airspace shows long-time tensions over Palestinian issue

ISTANBUL, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) — Türkiye’s decision to deny Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s plane access to its airspace for a flight to the COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan has shown the country’s longstanding tensions with Israel on the Palestine issue, Turkish analysts have said.
On Sunday, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported that the Israeli government had requested permission for Herzog’s plane to use Turkish airspace en route to the conference in Baku, but Turkish authorities rejected the request.
According to a report by the Times of Israel, Herzog canceled his visit to Azerbaijan on Saturday due to “security considerations.”
Referring to the denial, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that “on certain issues, we must take a stand, and we will continue to do so.”
Calling Israel’s military actions against Gaza and Lebanon as “nearing the scale of ethnic genocide and mass slaughter,” Baris Doster, a scholar at Istanbul-based Marmara University, told Xinhua Türkiye’s denial “is not surprising” as the country “has consistently issued strong statements, harsh condemnations, and criticisms regarding Israel’s violent actions and atrocities in the region.”
Noting that the United States has not been pleased with Türkiye’s stance on Israel, particularly its harsh criticisms, Doster believes that with a new U.S. administration “having very strong support for Israel,” the expected pressure on Israel to end the crisis is unlikely to emerge in the foreseeable future.
Relations between Türkiye and Israel have been strained since 2010, largely over the Palestinian issue, and it took more than a decade for the two countries to normalize ties.
While political interactions had started to improve before the Gaza conflict, the ongoing crisis has reignited tensions, with both sides trading accusations. Türkiye has also suspended all trade with Israel amid the hostilities.
During the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Erdogan reinforced Türkiye’s stance on the ongoing crisis, stressing that “it is essential to apply coercive measures against Israel.”
He also called for widespread recognition of the State of Palestine.
Gulru Gezer, a former Turkish diplomat and foreign policy analyst, told Xinhua the relationship between Türkiye and Israel has always been influenced by the latter’s stance on the Palestinian issue.
“When conflicts such as wars or intifadas erupted, relations would be severed and then reestablished when conditions improved,” Gezer said. “However, the current state of relations is at an all-time low. There are no ties whatsoever between the two countries.”
As long as the Israeli “genocide” continues in Gaza, bilateral relations between Türkiye and Israel would be unlikely to improve, Gezer said. ■