The Limits of Turkish Policy

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

The Arab citizen is thirsty, always searching for something to quench his thirst even a little, and whenever hope appears on the horizon, he runs after it, eager, pleading, calling out, imploring that the hope not turn out to be a mirage. The Arab citizen is the most humiliated person on earth, and the most aware of this humiliation, whether its source is internal or external, and he longs to feel some kind of dignity, or to feel that defeat has briefly left his bedside so he might rest as people elsewhere on earth rest.

Whenever a voice sympathetic to Arabs resounds across the earth, even a merely polite one, Arab necks crane and their hands stretch out, hoping this voice might carry something to lift them out of their misery and wretchedness.

We once clung to the Soviet Union, always treating it, though not all of us, as the awaited hero who would rush to our rescue with every ordeal, and we cheered for the American president when he promised Palestinians a state, and we placed the French president Chirac in the rank of righteous saints when he visited us bearing insistence on establishing a Palestinian state, while Chávez’s pictures now hang in many Arab homes, classified by many as an Arab nationalist hero. And now Turkey takes center stage, with its prime minister occupying the front of the list of heroes expected to rescue the Arab citizen and pull him out of his stubborn ordeal of humiliation.

I noted, in an earlier article, that Arabs should not raise their expectations of Turkey too high, for several reasons, including that Turkey is a member of NATO, that it recognizes Israel, and that Arabs are not well-suited to winning friends, since they are themselves the harshest offenders against their own causes. I specifically mentioned Erdoğan’s defense of Gaza at the very time Mahmoud Abbas was speaking of his insistence on the failed path of negotiations.

Matters have now become clearer to Arabs following Turkish policy, and my assessment can be summarized as follows:

First: in all its previous statements, words, and actions, Turkey has never stepped outside what is called the international order imposed by the United States, and, in many cases, Israel alongside it. Turkey has not rebelled against the international order, has not stepped outside or away from it, and whoever remains within it must abide by its standards. This means this international order recognizes Israel and its right to exist, and is prepared to defend it should it face a danger threatening its continuation as a state, while at the same time this order does not recognize the refugees’ right of return, does not recognize the Palestinians’ right to armed resistance, nor to establishing a real, independent state capable of defending itself. Turkey has not departed from this general position, and has not taken measures that would affect the course of economic, social, cultural, and military relations between it and the Zionist entity.

Second: Turkey still recognizes the Zionist entity, is still a member of NATO, and is still trying to join the European Union. Recognizing and defending Palestinian rights entirely contradicts these circumstances.

Third: Turkey is now taking steps to restore its friendly relations with Israel to what they were before, to the era before Davos, and before the first Freedom Flotilla.

Fourth: Turkey’s foreign minister has asked Hamas to recognize Israel, thereby trying to shift all Palestinians away from their national positions in favor of the Zionist entity.

Fifth: Palestinians themselves have not changed their positions on recognizing the Zionist entity and defending Zionist security, and no new signs have appeared in the Arab arena pressuring Turkey, or encouraging it, to contend with the Zionist entity. I do not think Turkey wants to be more Palestinian than the Palestinians, or more Arab than the Arabs — whoever squanders his own rights has no right to demand others fight on his behalf.

Sixth: Turkey’s recent position on the Palestinian cause is a humanitarian position, not a strategic political one. Turkey felt the suffering of the people of Gaza, and the destruction that befell Gaza as a result of the war, and so moved with great rhetorical and media momentum in confronting the siege imposed on the Strip, but its positions so far have not gone beyond this humanitarian dimension.

Thank You, Turkey

Despite all this, Turkey’s position on the war on Gaza, on the siege, and on the continued suffering of the people of Gaza is better than the positions of many Palestinians and many Arab regimes. There are Palestinians who incited Israel to continue the war on Gaza in 2009, and some who contribute to the siege; and there are Arabs who participate in the siege of Gaza, coordinate security and military matters with the Zionists, and normalize relations with them.

Turkey’s position is very advanced when compared to the positions of Palestinians and Arab regimes, so thank you to it, and it is not required of it to fight on my behalf.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “حدود السياسة التركيَّة” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.