Türkiye on Monday condemned Israel’s plan to double the population living in the occupied Golan Heights as a bid to “expand its borders.”
“This decision is a new stage in Israel’s goal of expanding its borders through occupation,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, warning the plan would “seriously undermine” efforts to bring stability to neighboring Syria after Bashar Assad’s ouster.
“This step by Israel is a source of grave concern, taken together with Israel’s entry into the area of separation in violation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, its advance into adjacent areas and airstrikes in Syria.”
The ministry urged the international community to take “appropriate measures” to end the “illegal steps of the Netanyahu government.”
The Israeli decision was condemned by several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.
The Golan Heights is Syrian territory occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war.
Currently, approximately 50,000 people live in the occupied Golan Heights, half of whom are Israeli settlers, while the other half consists of Druze, Alawites and others, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.
There are 33 Jewish settlements in the Golan, incorporated into what is called the Golan Regional Council.
Bashar Assad, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8 after anti-regime groups seized control of the capital, Damascus. The takeover came after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters captured key cities across the country in a swift offensive that lasted less than two weeks.
Taking advantage of Assad’s fall, Israel has intensified its airstrikes against military sites across Syria in blatant violation of the country’s sovereignty.
Israel also declared the collapse of a 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria and deployed its forces within the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights, in a move widely condemned by the United Nations and several Arab nations.
Türkiye is a fierce critic of Israel’s now yearlong war on blockaded Gaza and its deadly push into Lebanon and Syria, accusing the United Nations of failing to sanction Israel over the conflicts and its Western allies of supporting its violent methods.
Israel has continued its devastating offensive on Gaza since an attack last year by Hamas, despite a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
More than 45,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 102,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its deadly war on Gaza.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has branded Netanyahu the “butcher of Gaza” and compared him to Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler. He also called on the U.N. to impose an arms embargo on Israel, which he said would be an “effective solution” to end the Gaza war.
The Turkish government suspended trade relations with Israel last May and applied to join a genocide case at the ICJ against Tel Aviv.