Gaza War Threatens To Drive Wedge Between NATO And Turkey

Mohammad Jamshidi, Deputy Chief of Staff for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, has confirmed on X that Raisi met today with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the 16th Economic Cooperation Organization Summit, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

• The ECO reports that, "the event was attended by Heads of State/Government from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan."
• An ECO statement reads, "[leaders looked] into escalating tensions in Palestine and the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza, the ECO leaders stressed the international community to come up with a more serious and fruitful response."
• France24 reports: "At the summit, Erdogan hardened his tone against both Israel and the West... Erdogan used a speech in Tashkent to call on Muslim countries to "raise our voices together to defend our Palestinian cause"."
• Erdogan's appearance at the summit, and meeting with Raisi - a key backer of Hamas - provides more evidence that the Gaza war may drive a wedge between Turkey and fellow NATO members following a period of cooperation which saw Erdogan release the NATO bid of Sweden and make moves consistent with a pivot back to the West.