Report: Erdogan told Sissi his plane heading to Cairo for Gaza summit would turn around if Netanyahu allowed to come

13 October 2025, 4:55 pm

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This handout photograph taken and released by Turkish Presidency Press Office on October 7, 2025, shows Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attending a session of the 12th Summit of the Organization of Turkic State (OTS) in Gabala, Azerbaijan. (Mustafa Kamaci / Turkish Presidency Press Office / AFP)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan phoned Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi from his place as it prepared to land in Cairo for tomorrow’s Gaza summit to tell him that he would head back to Ankara if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was allowed to attend the confab of world leaders, Israel Hayom reports.

CNN reports that Turkey also told the United States that Netanyahu should not participate in the Egypt summit.

The network says that Egypt’s invitation to Netanyahu — apparently brokered by the US — led Turkey and other Muslim countries to threaten to boycott.

Shortly after the warnings from Ankara, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying he was reversing his plan to attend due to the Simhat Torah holiday, which starts this evening.

Erdogan’s plane has since landed in Egypt.