(Jan. 27, 2026 / JNS) Israel’s Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli lashed out on Sunday at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, calling him a “dictator,” “Hamas sympathizer” and “promoter of Sharia-based authoritarianism.”
Chikli referenced a short video clip posted on social media in which Erdoğan apparently spoke recently in Turkish about the need of the region’s peoples to unite on the “common ground of Islamic brotherhood.”
It is unclear whether the Turkish leader was referring to the Muslim Brotherhood group, whose national branches in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon were designated by the Trump administration as terrorist organizations on Jan. 13.
He spoke against the backdrop of the recent military campaign waged by the al-Sharaa regime in Syria against the country’s Kurdish minority. Ankara backs the Sunni Islamist government in Damascus and supports the then-rebels in toppling President Bashar Assad in December 2024.