Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler made a shock statement. “Israel may attack Turkey and World War III will break out,” warned Turkey’s Defense Minister, according to SKAI’s Istanbul correspondent Manolis Kostidis.

Highlighting Israel’s “regional aggression”, Guler said: “Israel is an aggressive country, it can attack us. We have lived through two world wars. Do you remember how these wars started? For very small reasons. So a big event is not required… It can break out at any time. Of course, we don’t want a war to break out, but we must always be prepared.”

“We are responsible for the security of the entire Republic of Turkey and the Turkish nation. There may be a possibility of war, we will evaluate everything down to the smallest detail, but we want to live peacefully in our country,” he added.

“Our president is warning the whole society. Because he sees this. Would he say such a thing if he saw no such danger? World War III could break out at any moment”

Guler also expressed hope that Donald Trump would eventually withdraw US forces from Syria, in line with Ankara’s repeated demands.

The irritation in Turkey regarding President-elect Donald Trump’s choices to appoint Marco Rubio as Secretary of State and Michael Waltz as National Security Adviser, as well as other pro-Israel figures, is evident.

First to express his concern was Devlet Bakhceli, Erdogan’s government partner, who said Trump would have to decide whether to “uphold international law” or support Greece and Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean.