A fact-check found no credible reports of Erdogan backing that claim or stance publicly
Erdogan did not mention Islamabad in his speech and instead criticised Israel for its bombardment of Lebanon. PHOTO: VIDEO GRAB
Multiple accounts across social media platforms had been sharing a clip since April 11, 2026, claiming that it showed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying that Turkiye would have attacked Israel if Pakistan weren’t mediating the US-Iran talks. However, Erdogan did not mention Islamabad in his speech and instead criticised Israel for its bombardment of Lebanon.
The much-anticipated talks between the United States and Iran, aimed at bringing a permanent solution to the conflict which began between the two countries, ended inconclusively in Islamabad on April 12. The negotiations continued for 21 hours but could not yield a breakthrough.
However, officials had indicated that the negotiations had not entirely collapsed and could continue. The US-Iran war began on February 28 when America and Israel launched joint strikes on Tehran. On the other hand, Tel Aviv has also been bombing Lebanon to target Iran-backed Hezbollah.
How it started
On April 11, an X user, who appeared to be anti-Israeli based on his past posts, shared a video of Erdogan delivering a speech at the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) — a forum of political parties of Asian-Oceanian countries — on April 10.
The caption of the post read: “Pakistan is winning. President Erdogan- ‘On the day of the ceasefire, Israel killed hundreds of innocent Lebanese people. Netanyahu is blinded by blood & hatred. If it were not for Pakistan mediating the war between the US & Iran, we would have shown Israel its place’.”
The post gained 3.3 million views.
An X user, who appeared to be Iranian as per the bio, shared the same clip with the caption: “Erdogan says, If the war drags on and US-Iran talks in Pakistan fail to achieve peace, Turkiye may enter the war against Israel.”
The post gained 603,000 views.
Another user posted the same clip with a similar caption, gaining 1.2m views.
Subsequently, several other X users shared the video and claimed, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here and here; collectively gaining more than 579,000 views.
Leading Urdu-language newspaper Jang News also shared the claim in a news article dated April 13. “If Pakistan had not been mediating, it would have shown Israel its place, Erdogan said,” reads the title of the report. The News International also carried a report with the same claim.
The clip and claim were also shared on Instagram and YouTube, as can be seen here, here, and here; accumulating 12,000 views.
Methodology
A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in Erdogan’s stance on the US-Israel war with Iran, along with Pakistan’s role as mediator.
A keyword search yielded no news reports from credible Pakistani, international, or Turkish media outlets that covered such a statement made by Erdogan.
A reverse image search yielded the complete video of Erdogan’s speech at the ICAPP posted by Turkish news outlet TRT Haber on its YouTube account, dated April 10.
“President Erdogan addresses participants who came to Istanbul for the 9th Meeting of the ICAP,” reads the title.
The part featured in the viral clip starts at the 7:10-minute mark in the full video, where Erdogan can be heard talking about Israel’s ceasefire violations in Lebanon.
The transcription of the part that corresponds with the viral video is provided below:
“On the day the ceasefire was declared, Israel brutally murdered 254 Lebanese. This genocidal network, blinded by blood and hatred, continued to kill innocent children, women, and civilians, disregarding all human values and ignoring all rules and principles.”
The same speech was also covered by APT News on its YouTube channel on April 11, 2026. It, too, did not mention any such statement made by Erdogan.
Erdogan’s speech was also reported by several Turkish news outlets, including Türkiye Today and Yeni Şafak, none of which mentioned any statement about Pakistan’s mediation efforts or Turkiye threatening to attack Israel.
Instead, the coverage showed that while addressing the ICAPP, Erdogan condemned Israel’s move to introduce capital punishment for Palestinian prisoners, arguing that the measure reflects racial discrimination and mirrors historical persecution.
The Turkish government also issued a clarification on X on April 13, saying that Erdogan did not make any comments on invading or attacking Israel.
Bazı medya organları ve sosyal medya paylaşımlarında Cumhurbaşkanımıza atfen yer alan, “Türkiye’nin İsrail’e yönelik işgal tehdidinde bulunduğu” yönündeki iddialar tamamen asılsızdır.
Söz konusu paylaşımlardaki iddialar gerçeklerle örtüşmeyen ve bölgesel istikrara zarar vermeyi… pic.twitter.com/EPu8pqCgqr
— Dezenformasyonla Mücadele Merkezi (@dmmiletisim) April 12, 2026
Claims circulating in certain media outlets and on social media, attributing to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the statement that “Türkiye has threatened to invade Israel”, are entirely unfounded. The assertions in these posts do not reflect the facts and constitute narratives Show more
Claims circulating in certain media outlets and on social media, attributing to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the statement that “Türkiye has threatened to invade Israel”, are entirely unfounded.
The assertions in these posts do not reflect the facts and constitute narratives… pic.twitter.com/iy01fh3m0e
— Dezenformasyonla Mücadele Merkezi (@dmmiletisim) April 12, 2026
Fact-check status: false
The claim that a viral video showed Erdogan saying Turkiye would have attacked Israel if Pakistan wasn’t mediating the US-Iran talks was false.
He criticised Tel Aviv for its ceasefire violations in Lebanon and did not mention Pakistan.
This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.
