The diplomatic confrontation between Turkey and Israel intensified Friday after Ankara accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of engaging in "cheap politics" following Turkey's request that Interpol issue arrest warrants for him and other senior Israeli officials.
"Israel's election campaign has fallen under the sway of an irresponsible security-focused populism and a threat politics that is growing ever harsher. The Netanyahu administration's effort to construct Turkey as a new figure of threat is part and parcel of this cheap politics," said an official statement posted to social media by Turkey's Directorate of Communications.
"This threat [of] politics and escalation of tensions, pursued for the sake of domestic political rivalry, carries serious risks-not only for Israeli society, but also for regional and global peace and stability," the statement claimed.
"Turkey as yesterday, stands today as well on the side of the oppressed against the oppressor; come what may, it will steadfastly continue to defend peace, justice, and stability in our region," it concluded.
The Turkish statement followed a sharp response from Netanyahu to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after Turkish authorities sought international arrest warrants for Netanyahu and dozens of other Israeli officials.
“Erdogan is an antisemitic dictator who has massacred Kurds, harbors Hamas terrorists, occupies half of Cyprus, and jails record numbers of journalists and politicians who oppose him. He now seeks to extend his aggression against Israel into Syria. Israel will not tolerate it," said a statement from the Prime Minister's Office.
“Erdogan’s pathetic attempt to intimidate the leaders and soldiers of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, will go nowhere," the statement stressed.
Turkey's request was submitted in connection with criminal proceedings being conducted in absentia by Istanbul's 11th High Criminal Court.
The case reportedly concerns Israel's interception of the "Global Sumud" flotilla, which sought to breach Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip before being stopped by Israeli forces in international waters.
There was no indication as of Friday that Interpol had accepted Turkey's request.
Ankara and Jerusalem had been moving toward renewed diplomatic ties before the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist massacre in southern Israel, but relations deteriorated sharply afterward. Turkish officials, particularly Erdogan, have since repeatedly criticized Israel.
In March of last year, Erdogan described Israel as a "terror state" after Israeli preemptive strikes against terrorist infrastructure in Gaza. He later said Netanyahu's government represented the single greatest threat to stability in the Middle East.
Erdogan renewed his criticism last week, accusing Israel of seeking to remove the Palestinian Arab issue from the international agenda.
Earlier this week, Israel struck the Abu al-Duhur airbase in Syria after Syria was close to violating a security understanding by allowing Turkish forces to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo.
Turkey rejected the Israeli explanation, accusing Jerusalem of attempting to justify an attack on Syrian territory.
Ankara further accused Netanyahu of pursuing regional expansion and destabilization for political purposes ahead of elections in Israel.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)