Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s praise for US President Donald Trump’s Gaza cease-fire plan has sparked sharp criticism online, with users denouncing him as hypocritical and accusing him of legitimizing a plan they say sidelines Palestinian sovereignty.
President Trump outlined a 20-point plan at a press event with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The proposal calls for a phased Israeli pullback, a full hostage–detainee exchange and no role for Hamas in governance.
Joint Statement by the Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Qatar, and Egypt. pic.twitter.com/XDqgHxNkGd
— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) September 29, 2025
On the same day, the foreign ministers of Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt issued a joint statement welcoming Trump’s “sincere efforts” and pledged to work with Washington to finalize the agreement and ensure its implementation.
The statement said the ministers were committed to ending the bloodshed, securing unrestricted humanitarian aid, preventing displacement, releasing hostages, ensuring full Israeli withdrawal, rebuilding Gaza and creating a path to a Palestinian state that integrates Gaza with the West Bank under international law.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry also said Turkey will attend a Gaza mediation meeting in Doha today. Mediators from Qatar and Egypt delivered the US proposal to Hamas on Monday.
I commend US President Donald Trump’s efforts and leadership aimed at halting the bloodshed in Gaza and achieving a ceasefire.
Türkiye will continue to contribute to the process with a view to establishing a just and lasting peace acceptable to all parties.
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) September 29, 2025
Erdoğan tweeted on Monday that he “commends” Trump’s “efforts and leadership” to halt the bloodshed in Gaza and pledged that Turkey would continue contributing to “a just and lasting peace acceptable to all parties.”
The post drew more than 1,100 replies and 230 quote posts by the following day. A review of responses shows that most were strongly negative.
Users said Erdoğan’s statement legitimized a United States plan that imposes control on Palestinians without addressing justice or sovereignty. Some called him a “genocide enabler” or “puppet,” while others invoked Islamic duty, history and his own political past.
Erdoğan praising Trump for “peace” in Gaza is peak hypocrisy. While Palestinians are bombed, he silences pro-Palestine voices in Türkiye, jails dissenters, & cozies up to the same powers fueling genocide.
this is not leadership—it’s shameless bigotry by @RTErdogan & @CMShehbaz https://t.co/Ykc4Al2Box— Iqbal Taseer (@InsanKosher) September 30, 2025
Many expressed disappointment and called for stronger action, saying they once admired Erdoğan as a defender of Palestinians but now saw his stance as capitulation. Some urged him to reject the involvement of figures such as Tony Blair, citing his role in the Iraq war, or to align with Palestinian groups that rejected Trump’s plan.
One by one, these so-called Muslim leaders are openly declaring themselves traitors https://t.co/gWTynhGBwC
— Sara N (@SaraNajmaii) September 30, 2025
Insult and mockery was commonplace in reactions. Clown emojis and memes depicted him as a foreign asset while multilingual replies in Turkish, Urdu, Arabic and English used terms like “shameless” and “sellout.”
Erdogan – who was publicly reminded by Trump yesterday about the dirty stuff they have on him (blackmail) – says today that he trust Trump's plan for Gaza.
Do you trust this plan ? https://t.co/yi1WAGBjvn pic.twitter.com/KYWn3t9Ldk
— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) September 30, 2025
Trump’s 20-point peace plan includes the creation of a new international “Board of Peace” to supervise Gaza’s governance. Trump said he would chair the body himself and announced Blair as its first named member.
Under the plan the war would “immediately end” once both sides agreed. Hostages and detainees would be exchanged, full humanitarian aid would be delivered, a multinational force would deploy and Israeli forces would withdraw in stages. Gaza’s governance would be handled by a temporary Palestinian technocratic committee under the supervision of the Board of Peace, with no role for Hamas.
Blair, who took the UK into the Iraq war in 2003, has been involved in Middle East diplomacy for decades, including as the Quartet envoy. He called Trump’s plan “the best chance of ending two years of war, misery and suffering.” His involvement has attracted harsh criticism, with many pointing to his Iraq record.
Erdoğan’s post was also read against a wider record of contradictions in Turkey’s Israel policy.
While Ankara announced a trade ban in May 2024, shipments continued through third countries until ports and airspace were closed to Israeli vessels in August 2025. Turkish Airlines recently unveiled a plan to buy 225 aircraft from Boeing, a company whose defense arm produces JDAM kits documented in Gaza strikes. Rights groups and UN experts have warned that such procurement risks complicity.
The plan and Erdoğan’s support come against a backdrop of mounting legal findings of genocide. Since October 2023 UN experts, rights groups and courts have warned that Israel’s siege, bombardment and forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza meet the definition of genocide.
The International Court of Justice has issued three sets of provisional measures ordering Israel to prevent genocide, allow aid and halt operations in Rafah. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch concluded in December 2024 that Israel was committing genocide. Israeli groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel documented systematic attacks on hospitals and denial of medical aid in 2025, and they also said Israeli authorities are committing genocide in Gaza.
On September 1 the International Association of Genocide Scholars said Israeli actions meet the legal definition of genocide. On September 16 a UN Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, citing killings, conditions of life calculated to bring destruction and statements by senior Israeli officials. A day later, major aid agencies warned governments that inaction risked complicity.