Earlier this month Erdogan made a wild accusation that Israel was planning to wage war on, or target, Turkey. While these absurd claims are mainly seen as an effort by the Turkish President to appease his Islamist base and distract from the country’s economic troubles, there is concern that to ignore such statements encourages further incitement. Alan Makovsky, a senior fellow for the Center for American Progress and a former senior staffer with responsibility for Turkey on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, joins Thanos Davelis to break down why Erdogan’s claims, if left unchecked, risk stoking more hatred in Turkey and the region.

In our discussion we also look into the Turkey-Hamas connection. This conversation was recorded before the news about the killing of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who was an architect of the October 7 attacks.

You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:

Erdogan accuses Israel of wanting to wage war on Turkey despite robust trade ties

EU leaders set course for tougher policy to send back irregular migrants

Greece, Ukraine sign security agreement in Brussels