Jerusalem ‘will be ours again’: Israel hits back at Turkish minister dreaming of conquering Israel

The ongoing tensions between Turkey and Israel reached another high point on Sunday, after Israeli ministers reacted strongly to the suggestion of Turkey’s interior minister that Jerusalem could one day be reconquered by the successor state to the Ottoman Empire.

Speaking at a party convention, Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said that “just as we witnessed the liberation of Damascus, Aleppo, and Karabakh, God willing, one day we will also witness the liberation of Jerusalem.”

This is a reference to the defeat of the Assad regime at the hands of the Islamist alliance led by the now-defunct terror group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which received significant support from Turkey.

Wake up and smell the coffee.

The corrupt Ottoman Empire is gone. Forever.

Jerusalem DC (David’s capital) shall remain the eternal capital of Israel.
Forever. https://t.co/FRSR7ue1gP

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) June 7, 2026

In addition, he referenced the capture of Karabakh, a region within the Turkish-allied Republic of Azerbaijan that is called Artsakh by Armenians, who were the majority population until Azerbaijan captured the region in 2023.

Çiftçi continued by recounting his “heartfelt plea to the Almighty”: “O Lord, grant me the governorship of Jerusalem, even if just for a single day.”

“I still believe that the Almighty will show us those days,” he added, “He will surely show them to us. I have believed this with all my heart, and I continue to believe it. Just as in the past, those lands will be ours once again. God willing, they will come under our sovereignty and dominion once more. Because we have a global leader like Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at our helm. A world leader.”

“Wake up and smell the coffee. The corrupt Ottoman Empire is gone. Forever,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry hit back.

I know this isn't the main story today, but the number of Turkish accounts salivating at the thought of conquering Jerusalem after their interior ministry prayed for its "liberation" is disturbing and should be on everyone's radar. https://t.co/oiosDmvBzt

— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) June 8, 2026

“Jerusalem DC (David’s capital) shall remain the eternal capital of Israel. Forever,” it said, in a statement that was reposted to 𝕏 by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

Defense Minister Israel Katz responded to Çiftçi, whom he dubbed the minister “who dreams of administering Jerusalem and hurls threats,” in a lengthy post on 𝕏.

“Jerusalem is not Constantinople, and the State of Israel is not a crumbling Crusader Empire. Israel is a strong and resolute state that has proven its capacity to defend itself against any threat. Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years and will remain Israel’s capital forever,” he wrote.

“You and the Ottoman Empire that Erdoğan dreams of, on the other hand, have collapsed and will never return. Unfortunately, you have learned nothing from the legacy of Atatürk, who worked to transform Turkey into a modern state; on the contrary, you are working to drag Turkey back into a dark and backward era.”

Atatürk was the founder of the state of Turkey, who modernized and secularized the country while rebuilding it out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, which ended after World War 1.

While ostensibly praising Atatürk, Erdoğan and his Islamist AK Party have rolled back many of the secular policies instituted by the founder.

The Ottomans had captured Jerusalem and the Land of Israel from the Egypt-based Mamluk Empire in 1516 and controlled it until the British Empire took control of the area in 1917, symbolized by the entry of General Edmund Allenby into the Holy City on Dec. 11 of that year.