The Turkish e-newspaper Ekonomim [My Economy], on December 14, reported that the X (formerly Twitter) post of an Israeli Foreign Ministry official had been retweeted in the wake of the sudden death of Turkish member of Parliament, Hasan Bitmez.

“Following the news of the death of Saadet [Felicity] Party Member of Parliament (MP), who represented Kocaeli [a province located in northwest Türkiye], Hasan Bitmez, a social media post that Israeli Foreign Ministry official Emmanuel Nahshon had recently made became an item. In his post, Nahshon had written, ‘To hate Israel is like smoking; it’s addictive but is really bad for your health.’

“On Tuesday, while speaking in Parliament [Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM)] during budget discussions, Bitmez became ill and then lost consciousness. He died [on Thursday, December 14] at the hospital where he was receiving treatment.

“Following the death of Bitmez, the message that Israeli Foreign Ministry Department of Public Diplomacy Deputy Director-General, Emmanuel Nahshon, had posted was retweeted to apply to what had happened that day.

“What had the Israeli official said?”

“The images of Bitmez collapsing on the floor produced statements referrıng to Nahshon’s original post: ‘To hate Israel is like smoking; it’s addictive but is really bad for your health.’”

LOC Commentary: Felicity Party MP Hasan Bitmez is seen here speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, December 12 shortly before he suffered a heart attack and collapsed while at the podium. The Felicity Party represents Türkiye’s conservative Muslim population and takes a stance on domestic and international policy to the left of the ruling moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. According to multiple online sources, Bitmez was speaking against the AKP’s maintaining relations with Israel despite Israel’s waging a retaliatory war against Hamas.

In the above photo, the placard on the podium reads, “Murderer Israel Collaborator AKP.” In his hand, Bitmez is holding the BBC’s December 9, 2016, Turkish-language online report entitled “Blue Marmara Case Dropped” with the emboldened caption under the picture reading, “It has been decided to drop the case related to the attack executed by Israeli soldiers on the ship ‘Mavi Marmara’ that was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza and in which 10 Turkish citizens lost their lives.”

As Bitmez was finishing his turn at the podium, he said, “Allah’ın gazabından kurtulamayacaksınız. Hepinizi saygıyla selamlıyorum.” [You will be unable to escape/be saved from the wrath of Allah. I greet you all with respect.] Although several social media sources have interpreted Bitmez’s statement as an imprecation against Israel, it seems fairly certain that it was intended for the members of the ruling AKP and probably Erdoğan personally, based on the second person plural used in both sentences as well as the overall tenor of Bitmez’s tirade, as summarized by other online sources.

The retweets piggybacking on the Nahshon post were prolific, either turning Bitmez’s imprecation back onto him because of his hatred of Israel; or taking to the next level the idea of hatred for Israel, the latter being almost exclusively Turkish.

The following are examples of the latter taken from X. [Translated from Turkish by LOC]

“Hating Israel is like getting fresh air, it opens the heart, opens the mind, there’s no downside. The benefit never ends.”

“HITLER” 

“You murdered 7 thousand children, 20 thousand civilians. You bombed schools, hospitals, and houses of worship. By droppıng the cruelest bombs on a city where 2.5 million people live you committed all the war crimes that can be committed. Not just the Turks, the whole world hates you for despicable war crimes!”

“The invader Israel has done so much brutality that the old heart couldn’t stand it. This is a normal situation. The whole world hates you. This is enough for us.” 

“May Allah destroy Israel as soon as possible.”

“You have directed a professional army at civilian targets, you represent a state that is attempting ethnic cleansing. You have stated that you are a supporter of Zionism which is an adaptation of the racist Nazi ideology. This is more than enough to be judged and sentenced for crimes against humanity.”