A major British newspaper has been forced to retract and remove a false story that incorrectly claimed Turkish President Recep Erdogan threatened a military invasion of Israel, after the outlet acknowledged the report relied on decontextualized, years-old comments that had been misrepresented to create a false narrative.
The Daily Telegraph first published the incendiary report on Sunday, claiming that Erdogan had attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon, describing the Israeli leader as “blinded by blood and hate”. The newspaper further alleged that Erdogan warned Turkey could launch military action against Israel, saying “just as we entered Libya and Karabakh, there is nothing to prevent us doing it” and that there was “no reason” not to attack.
However, the claims fell apart almost immediately when it was revealed that the quotes used in the story were pulled from a 2024 speech Erdogan delivered at a local ruling AK Party gathering in the Turkish coastal city of Rize, and were taken completely out of their original context. In the full, original remarks, Erdogan emphasized that Turkish military strength was necessary to constrain Israeli actions against Palestine, not that Turkey was planning an imminent invasion. His full comment read: “We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these ridiculous things to Palestine. Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we might do similar to them.”
By Monday, the Turkish government issued an official statement rejecting the false report as “entirely unfounded”. Ankara stressed that the misleading claims did not reflect reality and were part of a deliberate narrative designed to destabilize the already volatile Middle East region.
“In line with its long-standing state tradition and vision, the Republic of Türkiye has consistently assumed a leading role – both in our region and beyond – in advocating for an end to bloodshed, the protection of civilians, and the establishment of lasting peace,” the statement read. It added that manipulative content meant to distort Turkey’s well-documented humanitarian and peace-focused stance in the region should not be trusted, noting that Turkey would continue to stand as a voice for justice and peace across the Middle East.
Shortly after the Turkish government’s condemnation, The Daily Telegraph removed the article from its platforms, including a widely shared post of the false claim on X (formerly Twitter). A senior editor for the outlet admitted on X that “We’ve taken the story down. The quotes looks like they were old or made up all together.”
Despite the rapid retraction, the damage was already done: the false report had already been picked up and republished by multiple Israeli news outlets by Monday morning, including major publications *Jerusalem Post* and Maariv.
The spread of this misinformation comes at a moment of already sharply escalating tensions between Israel and Turkey. Over the past week, the two countries’ leaders have exchanged increasingly harsh verbal attacks, deepening a growing geopolitical rift between Ankara and Jerusalem. In a recent post on X, Netanyahu accused Erdogan of “massacring his own Kurdish citizens” and “accommodating Iran’s terror regime and its proxies”. Turkey responded with equally fierce condemnation, with senior officials in Ankara labeling Netanyahu the “Hitler of the era” in reference to Israel’s ongoing military assaults in Gaza and across the broader Middle East.