Türkiye set to extend Davos boycott over Gaza conflict: Report

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reportedly decided to extend the country’s boycott of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos for a second consecutive year, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The move, attributed to Erdogan’s strong stance on the ongoing Gaza conflict, will see top economic officials, including Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek and central bank governor Fatih Karahan, skipping the annual gathering scheduled to start on Jan. 20.

Turkish officials, speaking anonymously as the plans are not public, indicated that unless Erdogan changes his position at the last minute, Türkiye will remain completely absent from this year’s forum as well.

Both the Turkish Presidency and Treasury and Finance Ministry declined to comment on the matter to Bloomberg, while the WEF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Türkiye’s continued boycott of Davos

The boycott stems from Erdogan’s criticism of WEF founder Klaus Schwab’s characterization of Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel as “terrorism.” While the U.S. and European Union classify Hamas as a terrorist organization, Türkiye does not.

We strongly condemn Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel and emphasize the need to release hostages, and stress the importance of protecting the civilian population in Gaza and taking care of the most vulnerable.

WEF founder Klaus Schwab

President Erdogan condemned Schwab’s remarks and directed his government to skip last year’s event.

The conflict has strained Türkiye-Israel relations, with Türkiye halting trade with Israel and restricting its president’s access to Turkish airspace.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry in Gaza reports approximately 46,000 deaths since the conflict began, most of them reportedly to be civilians.

Erdogan has not attended Davos since 2009

In 2009, Erdogan walked out of a debate with then-President Shimon Peres over Israel’s military acts in Gaza the previous year and said he would not attend the forum again.

Erdogan never went to Davos again, although Turkish officials began attending again a few years later.

During a panel discussion titled “Gaza: The Case for Middle East Peace” at the 2009 World Economic Forum in Davos, Erdogan refused to be silenced by the moderator, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, when attempting to respond to Peres’ justification of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead.

‘One minute’

“One minute … one minute … one minute,” Erdogan said to Ignatius, then addressed Peres.

“You kill people, I remember the children who died on beaches … I remember two former prime ministers in your country who said they felt very happy when they were able to enter Palestine on tanks … I find it very sad when people applaud what you have said because there have been many people that have been killed … I think that it is very wrong and that it is not humanitarian to applaud any actions which have had that kind of a result,” he managed to say before Ignatius—who allowed Erdogan only 12 minutes of speaking time, while giving Peres 25 minutes—cut him off.

After this, Erdogan walked out before the panel ended. Five minutes later, the Israeli president called the Turkish prime minister to apologize.

Despite the years that have passed, President Erdogan’s “one minute” statement remains a hotly discussed event in Turkish politics. Erdogan’s ‘one minute’ speech resonated globally, especially in Arab public opinion.