On October 12, Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv and held a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Blinken said that he had come to the country "not only as the United States Secretary of State, but also as a Jew."
"Blinken made the biggest mistake at the outset. 'I come before you [...] as a Jew' - in return you get 1.5 million people at a rally in Istanbul," Erdogan told reporters upon returning from the summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization in Tashkent.
When asked why he did not meet with Blinken on Monday when the top US diplomat was in Ankara, Erdogan said that he had been in the northeastern Turkish province of Rize on that day. The president added that in his absence Blinken had a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in accordance with diplomatic protocols.
Erdogan also called Israel the center of "recklessness."
"Why is the whole world protesting against the US? Because the US became a target after it began supporting the Israeli massacre in the Gaza Strip. 1.5 million people gathered in just three days in Istanbul, this says something. They seem to say: 'Hear our voice, speak to the world with our voice,'" the Turkish president said.
On November 4, Erdogan said that Ankara no longer viewed Netanyahu as its "interlocutor," but the head of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization, Ibrahim Kalin, maintained contacts with Israel. On October 28, the Turkish leader said that his country was working to declare Israel a "war criminal" in connection with its military operation in the Gaza Strip.
On October 7, Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border, killing and abducting people in neighboring Israeli communities. Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food, and fuel. On October 27, Israel launched a large-scale ground incursion inside the Gaza Strip with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages.
The escalation of the conflict has resulted in the deaths of around 1,400 people in Israel and over 10,000 in the Gaza Strip.