Turkish lawmakers discuss Mideast in closed session after Erdogan's Israel claim

By Huseyin Hayatsever and Daren Butler

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey's lawmakers held a closed-door session on Tuesday to discuss the spread of war in the Middle East, a week after President Tayyip Erdogan made an unsubstantiated claim that Israel eventually aimed to encroach on Turkish territory.

Israel has not publicly responded to Erdogan's claim, which analysts and opposition lawmakers say is far-fetched and is intended primarily to deflect public attention away from Turkey's economic woes.

Israel has also not commented publicly on Tuesday's closed-door parliamentary session in Ankara, which is titled "Israel's occupation of Lebanon and developments in the region".

Foreign and defence ministers made presentations at the closed-door session - which was requested by the opposition - on the risk of the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon widening further.

NATO member Turkey is among the world's sharpest critics of what it calls Israel's illegal and reckless wars with armed groups Hamas and Hezbollah. It halted trade with Israel and applied to join a genocide case against it at the World Court.

Israel rejects the genocide case and Turkey's criticism, saying it is locked in an existential struggle with militant Islamist groups backed by Iran that are sworn to Israel's destruction.

Last week Erdogan told parliament that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was acting out his dream of a "utopia" and "promised land" for Israel.

"After Lebanon, the next place on which Israel will set its eyes will be our homeland," he told parliament's opening session, attended by dozens of foreign ambassadors and his cabinet, without providing evidence.

CHAOS AT BORDERS

Devlet Bahceli, leader of Erdogan's main ally MHP, said on Tuesday it was "likely that chaos in neighbouring countries will reach our borders and that Israel will harass Turkey" in the near future.

But Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), dismissed such talk.

"It's unreasonable to think Netanyahu will conduct an assault on Turkey, which is a NATO member and has a great army," Ozel told his party.

Later, after hearing the ministers' presentation, Ozel said he had not been convinced by them about any alleged Israeli threat against Turkey.

"They didn't say anything that we don't know," he said, reiterating his view that Erdogan had raised the issue in order to stop Turks focusing on "unemployment, inflation, poverty and high prices".

Polls show Turks strongly back the government's hard line on Israel.

Some Turkish protesters in recent days - marking the anniversary of the beginning of the war on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel - demanded that Erdogan take more action.

Critics have raised questions over whether Turkey is still effectively shipping goods to Israel despite the May trade ban, given official data show exports to Palestinian territories have leapt six-fold so far this year.

(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever and Daren Butler; Additional reporting by Burcu Karakas and Ceyda Caglayan; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Gareth Jones)