Ankara leverages Gaza conflict to cement influence in Muslim world

Turkey is seeking to strengthen its regional influence by rallying Muslim nations around the Palestinian cause, while maintaining close ties with Hamas leadership based in Ankara and Istanbul.

On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking in Egypt after talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, called for Muslim countries to unite in opposition to Israel’s plan to take control of Gaza City. 

The proposal, he said, represented a dangerous escalation and an effort to force Palestinians from their land.

While Ankara portrays itself as a champion of the Palestinian people, its position is also deeply intertwined with its own strategic ambitions. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has a long history of supporting Islamist factions in the region, notably helping Islamist militias gain power in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime . Many of these groups are considered violent and extremist by the international community.

Turkey’s hardline stance against Israel, described by Ankara as a response to “genocidal and expansionist policies,” fits a broader pattern of opportunistic foreign policy — one that uses strong rhetoric on Gaza to project influence and leadership in the Muslim world.

This approach also serves domestic political objectives, bolstering Erdoğan’s image as a defender of Muslim causes while providing leverage in diplomatic dealings with regional rivals and Western powers.

Israel rejects the characterisation of its military strategy as genocidal, pointing instead to Hamas’s October 2023 attack, which killed 1,200 people, as the trigger for the ongoing conflict.

In the context of Middle Eastern geopolitics, Ankara’s vocal opposition to Israel is less about peace and more about power — ensuring Turkey remains a central player in shaping the region’s future.