The United States announced on Sunday that it would move the aircraft carrier strike group, which includes the USS Gerald Ford and its supporting and escorting warships, closer to Israel.
The Pentagon is also working to expand its fleet in the eastern Mediterranean with combat aircraft. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that the United States would supply munitions to Israel and that security assistance would begin on Sunday.
The Gerald Ford had previously sailed in Norwegian waters, but had already begun heading south.
Turkey says the US aircraft carrier strike group will commit “serious massacres” in Gaza
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the United States on Tuesday for bringing its strike group closer to Israel.
Erdogan said on social media, “What will the American aircraft carrier do near Israel? Why are they coming here? What will the ships and planes that come with it do? They will strike Gaza and its surroundings and take steps to commit massive massacres.” While Austrian Minister Karl Nehammer discussed with the Chancellor in Ankara.
Erdogan said earlier that Turkey is ready to mediate between Israeli and Palestinian forces to ensure calm
Türkiye has supported the Palestinians in the past, and later accepted Hamas members. The Turkish president is a strong supporter of a two-state solution to the conflict, but is also working to restore relations with Israel amid years of hostility. They also achieved important results in bilateral negotiations and intelligence cooperation.
Evidence of this is the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Ankara last February, during which many issues that had accumulated during the previous 14-year smile break were discussed.
Turkey used to be one of Israel’s closest friends in the Muslim region after a deadly clash in 2010 between Israeli commandos and Turkish militants on a passenger ship that attempted to breach Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip to aid Hamas.
The Mavi Marmara ship was part of a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza when Israeli naval commandos boarded it and killed nine activists after encountering fierce resistance. Later, one activist died of his wounds. At that time, Israeli-Turkish relations had deteriorated to the freezing point, but they gradually declined in the following years.
Erdogan now expects that Israel will not use increased US military force to destroy the civilian population in Gaza.
