The leaders of Turkey’s rival countries in the eastern Mediterranean convened in Jerusalem on Monday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu using the opportunity to send a message of defiance to one of Jerusalem’s leading critics on the international stage.

Standing alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, Netanyahu said in a thinly veiled reference to Turkey that “those who fantasize they can reestablish their empires and their dominion over our lands” should “forget it.”

The Ottoman Empire ruled much of the Middle East and parts of Europe for more than 500 years before collapsing in World War I and turning into the modern Turkish state.

“It is true that all of our countries were conquered in the past by a succession of empires,” said Netanyahu.

“But through courage and sacrifice, we achieved our independence in modern times,” he continued. “To those who fantasize they can reestablish their empires and their dominion over our lands, I say: Forget it. It’s not going to happen. Don’t even think about it.”

“We are committed and able to defend ourselves and our cooperation further enhances that capability,” Netanyahu said.

Relations between Israel and Turkey — formerly close allies — collapsed during the war that began with Hamas’s invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised the Hamas terror group and accused Israel of committing genocide.

Turkey suspended its trade with Israel, said it closed its airspace to Israeli planes and issued arrest warrants for 37 Israeli officials, including Netanyahu.

A close ally of US President Donald Trump, Erdogan has been angling for inclusion in a US-backed international peacekeeping force for Gaza, but Israel has sought to block the idea.

Greece’s long-troubled relations with its much larger eastern neighbor remain strained over historical grievances, sea boundaries, energy resources and the airspace over the eastern Mediterranean. The northern part of Cyprus, a majority-Greek island, has been occupied by Turkey since 1974.

Turkey has used its........

© The Times of Israel