The Limits of Turkish Policy

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

On 6 June 2010 I wrote an article titled “Slow Down on Turkey,” whose introduction read as follows:

The Arab citizen is parched with thirst, forever searching for someone or something to quench that thirst, if only a little; and whenever hope glimmers on the horizon, he runs after it, yearning, calling for help, crying out, imploring that the hope not be a mirage. The Arab citizen is the most humiliated person on earth, and the most aware of that humiliation, whether its source is internal or external, and he longs to feel some measure of dignity, or to sense that defeat has loosened its grip on him a little, so that he might rest as people rest in other parts of the world. And whenever a voice rings out somewhere on earth sympathizing with the Arabs, even out of mere courtesy, Arab necks crane and their hands reach out, hoping that voice might contain something to deliver them from their wretchedness and misery.

We once clung to the Soviet Union, and always regarded it — not all of us — as the awaited hero who would rush to our aid with every ordeal. We cheered the American president when he promised the Palestinians a state, and we placed the French president Chirac in the rank of righteous saints when he visited us bearing, in his baggage, an insistence on establishing a Palestinian state. As for Chávez, his pictures now hang in many Arab homes, and many classify him as an Arab national hero. And now Turkey takes center stage, with its prime minister occupying pride of place on the list of heroes who will come to the Arab citizen’s rescue and deliver him from his intractable ordeal of humiliation.

In that article I pointed out that Arabs should not raise the ceiling of their expectations of Turkey, for several reasons, among them that Turkey is a member of the Atlantic alliance (NATO), that it recognizes Israel, and that Arabs are not equipped to win friends, since they are themselves the ones who most harm their own causes. I specifically noted Erdoğan’s defense of Gaza at a time when 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:

With armed resistance, nor with the establishment of a genuine, 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 the economic, social, cultural, and military relations between it and the Zionist entity.

Second: Turkey still recognizes the Zionist entity, is still a member of the Atlantic alliance, and is still trying to join the European Union. Recognizing and defending Palestinian rights is entirely at odds with these circumstances.

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

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

Fifth: the Palestinians themselves have not changed their positions of recognizing the Zionist entity and defending Zionist security, and no new signs have appeared on the Arab scene pressuring Turkey, or encouraging it, to contest the Zionist entity. Nor do I think that 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 that others fight on his behalf.

Sixth: Turkey’s recent position on the Palestinian cause is a humanitarian position, not a strategic political one. Turkey has felt the suffering of the people of Gaza, and the destruction that befell Gaza as a result of the war, and so it moved with great rhetorical and media momentum against the siege imposed on the Strip. Its positions, up to now, 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 continuing 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 others who contribute to the siege; and there are Arabs who take part in the siege of Gaza, who coordinate security and military matters with the Zionists, and who normalize relations with them. Turkey’s position is very advanced when compared with the positions of such Palestinians and Arab regimes. So thank you, Turkey — and it is not required of you to fight on my behalf.

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