Former Turkish Prime Minister Professor Dr. Necmettin Erbakan used a crocodile metaphor to explain Western foreign policy and Israel’s role in the Middle East, according to the report published on August 22, 2026. His comparison of Israel and Zionism with parts of a crocodile continues to be discussed in Turkish political movements and media.

Erbakan described the United States as the crocodile’s upper jaw, representing the main political and military power in this structure. He described the European Union as the lower jaw, referring to Europe’s institutional and economic cooperation within the Western system. He compared Israel to the crocodile’s tail, portraying it as a small but effective component supported and directed by larger powers for activities in the Middle East.

Erbakan led the Islamist Milli Gorus movement, a political current strongly opposed to Western-led globalization, capitalism and Zionism. Its ideology regarded these issues as interconnected and as threats to the Muslim world. Erbakan served as Turkey’s 23rd prime minister from 1996 to 1997 and died on February 27, 2011.