Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed on Tuesday that Turkey had barred Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s plane from using Turkish airspace, forcing him to cancel a planned visit to the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. Herzog’s office initially attributed the cancellation to “security considerations,” but reports suggested that Turkey’s decision was the primary reason.
Speaking at the G20 Leaders Summit in Brazil, Erdogan stated, “With regard to the Israeli president going to Azerbaijan for the COP summit, we did not allow him to use our airspace,” citing Turkey’s opposition to Israel’s ongoing military actions in Gaza. Erdogan added, “There are other areas, there are other opportunities, we told him to travel from there… but I do not know whether he was able to go or not.”
The decision reportedly angered Azerbaijani officials, who rejected any suggestion that their country was unsafe for Herzog. The rest of the Israeli delegation, including three ministers and dozens of officials, traveled to Baku on November 11 via commercial flights through Georgia. The delegation remains under tight security due to Azerbaijan’s proximity to Iran.
A direct flight from Israel to Baku would typically require passage over the Mediterranean Sea and through Turkish and Georgian airspace, but Erdogan’s refusal left Herzog’s official Wing of Zion plane with no viable route.
This incident marks another instance where a country with diplomatic ties to Israel has blocked its airspace to express dissatisfaction. In 2021, Jordan barred Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plane from flying over its airspace, forcing the cancellation of a planned visit to the UAE.
Relations between Turkey and Israel, which had improved following extensive diplomatic efforts in 2022, have deteriorated since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Erdogan has been a vocal critic of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, frequently drawing controversial comparisons between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Adolf Hitler.
Ties between Turkey and Israel soured further with accusations that Hamas, which maintains a significant presence in Turkey, planned a Tel Aviv suicide bombing in August from its Turkish headquarters. Recent reports indicated that Hamas’s senior leadership had relocated from Qatar to Turkey, though both Ankara and Hamas dismissed the claims. The U.S. has urged Turkey to avoid normalizing relations with the Palestinian group.
Once robust allies, Turkey and Israel have experienced a turbulent relationship in recent years. Despite a brief rapprochement in 2022, marked by Herzog’s landmark visit to Ankara and improved diplomatic exchanges, tensions escalated in the aftermath of the Hamas attack, which resulted in over 1,200 deaths and numerous hostages in Israel.
Erdogan’s confirmation of the airspace ban signals a further decline in relations, highlighting Turkey’s firm stance against Israel’s actions in Gaza amidst a fraught regional and international climate.
