Fact-check: Erdogan did not say Turkiye would have attacked Israel if Pakistan was not mediating
Erdogan did not mention Pakistan in his speech and instead criticised Israel for its bombardment of Lebanon
Updated Wednesday Apr 15 2026
A statement attributed to the president of Türkiye is being widely circulated on social media in Pakistan, claiming he said Türkiye would have attacked Israel if Pakistan had not mediated talks between the United States and Iran this month.
The claim is false. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not make any such statement.
Claim
On April 11, an account on X (formerly Twitter) shared a video of Erdogan delivering a speech in Turkish. The caption of the post reads:
“Pakistan is winning. President Erdogan said - On the day of the ceasefire, Israel killed hundreds of innocent Lebanese people. Netanyahu is blinded by blood and hatred. If it were not for Pakistan mediating the war between the US and Iran, we would have shown Israel its place.”
At the time of writing, the post had garnered 3.4 million views, 1,600 likes, and 10,000 reshares.
Similar claims were also shared on X, on Facebook and on Instagram here, here and here.
Fact
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not make any such statement about Pakistan in his recent speeches.
Using reverse image search, Geo Fact Check found that the clip was taken from Erdogan’s address to participants at the 9th meeting of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) on April 10 in Istanbul.
The clip was originally posted on YouTube by Turkish state media TRT Haber. The segment featured in the viral clip appears around the 7:10 mark in the full video, where Erdogan discusses Israel’s ceasefire violations in Lebanon and can be viewed here.
Here is what he said: “On the day the ceasefire was declared, Israel barbarically massacred 254 Lebanese people. The genocide network, whose eyes are clouded with blood and hatred, continues to slaughter innocent children, women, and civilians, trampling every human value and recognising no rules or principles.”
Türkiye’s Disinformation Counteraction Centre also issued a clarification on X (Twitter) on April 13, stating that Erdogan did not make any remarks about invading or attacking Israel.
Erdogan’s speech was also covered by several Turkish media outlets, including Yeni Şafak and Türkiye Today, none of which reported the remarks being circulated online.
The news reports can be read here and here.
Verdict: The viral claim that Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Türkiye would have attacked Israel if Pakistan were not mediating US-Iran talks is false. In the original speech, Erdogan made no reference to Pakistan or any such statement about attacking Israel.
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