Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plane was heading to Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh city when it became known that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might also attend the summit. After receiving this information, Erdogan ordered the plane not to land, Milliyet and TGRT reported.
According to reports, the Turkish leader was flying to Egypt on a Turkish Airlines plane at the invitation of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss an agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
As Israel Hayom wrote, during the flight Erdogan personally called President Sisi and said, “If Netanyahu also comes, I will not land.” In addition, Turkish officials contacted Washington and expressed official protest, stating that “this was not previously agreed upon.”
According to Iraq’s INA agency, U.S. President Donald Trump himself tried to arrange Netanyahu’s participation, but the attempt was unsuccessful. It is also noted that Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani had warned in advance that if Netanyahu attended, he would refuse to take part in the summit.
In the end, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after consultations with U.S. and Israeli officials, canceled his trip. Erdogan’s plane reportedly remained in the air until Netanyahu’s nonattendance was officially confirmed, and only then landed in Sharm el-Sheikh.
According to Reuters, on the morning of October 13, Netanyahu met with Trump in Israel. Later, Egyptian authorities informed about the possible participation of the Israeli prime minister, but Netanyahu’s office confirmed that an invitation had indeed been received, yet the prime minister decided not to attend due to the beginning of Jewish holidays.
It was also reported that representatives of Hamas did not attend the summit.
Erdogan’s decision once again demonstrated Turkey’s sharp diplomatic stance in the Middle East — Ankara showed that it is ready to refuse even to appear on the same platform with Israel.
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