Israeli FM delivers fresh diatribe against Erdoğan over Instagram ban

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who has been engaged in a war of words with Turkish government officials over his verbal attacks on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has once again hit the Turkish head of state over an ongoing ban on the Instagram social media platform, repeating his label of “dictator.”

Instagram has been banned in Turkey since August 2, with government officials and Erdoğan accusing the platform of censorship and failing to remove posts they deem offensive.

Katz, in tweets both in English and Turkish, slammed Erdoğan on X on Tuesday due to his Monday remarks, accusing the US and Western countries of being “taken hostage by the Zionists in Israel.”

Calling him “the anti-Semitic dictator,” Katz said,” Erdoğan, the ones taken hostage are the citizens of Turkey, trapped in your dictatorship. You blocked Instagram for 57 million users in your country but left access to your own Instagram account.”

The anti-Semitic dictator @RTErdogan attacked the US and Western countries yesterday, saying they were "taken hostage by the Zionists in Israel."

Erdoğan, the ones taken hostage are the citizens of Turkey, trapped in your dictatorship. You blocked Instagram for 57 million users… pic.twitter.com/EOgELcp2G4

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) August 6, 2024

He was referring to a “Blessed Friday” message posted on Erdoğan’s Instagram account after the imposition of the ban that was later deleted, paving the way for claims that the president was violating a ban imposed by his own government.

Katz said he would continue to expose the truth to the people of Turkey and the world no matter what attacks are perpetrated against him.

“A leader who embraces Hamas, oppresses his people, and acts like a dictator is a dictator,” he added, referring to Erdoğan’s support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, who unlike most of his Western allies does not recognize the group as a terrorist organization but a group of “liberators” fighting for their homeland.

Meanwhile, Katz tagged İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş and the youth branch of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in his tweet. İmamoğlu and Yavaş are both popular mayors from the CHP who are seen as Erdoğan’s rivals.

When Katz tagged İmamoğlu for the first time in another tweet last week that again attacked Erdoğan, İmamoğlu responded by rejecting Katz’s statements and said that Turkey would not learn democracy and law from those who “have the blood of thousands of children on their hands.” İmamoğlu said, “I return this statement to you exactly as it is, which insults the flag of the Republic of Türkiye and the president.”

Many of Erdoğan’s critics slammed Katz’s statements on social media and accused him of taking sides, knowing of the anti-Israel sentiment in Turkey and thus tacitly supporting Erdoğan by insulting him.

Tensions, which have been running high between Turkey and Israel due to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, launched in retaliation for an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, have reached new heights following the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.

Erdoğan, who was a close ally of Haniyeh and hosted him frequently in Turkey, strongly condemned the attack on Haniyeh, blamed it on Israel and declared a national day of mourning in Turkey, sparking a fresh exchange of accusations and verbal attacks between Turkish and Israeli officials.