TURKEY JUST BECAME THE COUNTRY WITH THE SECOND MOST FOREIGN MILITARY BASES ON EARTH. ONLY AMERICA HAS MORE.
According to new 2026 data, Turkey now operates 133 foreign military bases worldwide — second only to the United States with 887. The UK is third with 117. Russia has 29. India has 20. Israel has 14.
Turkey is also the only Muslim-majority country to have built a global military network of this scale.
Turkey’s expansion is concentrated across Africa — Somalia, Libya, Chad — challenging French, Russian and Gulf influence simultaneously.
Now read the context that makes this number alarming for the region:
Turkey called Netanyahu “Hitler” in parliament this week.
Netanyahu called Erdogan an “antisemitic dictator.”
Turkey banned Israeli ships from its ports.
Turkey closed its airspace to Israeli military aircraft.
Turkey is building a 60,000-tonne aircraft carrier.
Erdogan said Israel’s strikes now “threaten Turkey directly.”
For comparison — Israel operates 14 foreign military bases. Turkey operates 133.
Israel went to war to neutralise Iran’s military threat.
The country watching from NATO’s second largest army just expanded its global footprint to 133 bases.
Iran had no navy.
Turkey has 133 bases, a carrier under construction and a drone program arming half the world.
Israel may have solved the wrong problem. →
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