Since the late summer of 2011, Turkey’s already heightened animosity to Israel has escalated even further. Almost daily Ankara announces new measures designed to embarrass, isolate, and punish the Jewish state. Turkey’s angry rhetoric and punitive actions against Israel have drawn negative international attention and earned Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan the label of “neighborhood bully,” states the New York Post.
Why is he displaying such single-mindedness in his campaign against Israel? Evidence suggests that Erdogan’s aspirations are for regional power—and by targeting Israel, the traditional Jewish scapegoat for Middle Eastern troubles, he gains standing with his Arab brothers.
A report in Haaretz describes the Arab response to the Prime Minister’s September 2011 trip: “Erdogan, seeking to expand Turkey's regional influence, is on a tour of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, where he has so far received an enthusiastic welcome. His criticism of Israeli has helped win him great popularity in Arab countries”
With the shifting of power resulting from the Arab Spring, Turkey, with Erdogan at the helm, is showing signs that it has set its sights on being the regional power—just as Ottoman Turkey was in centuries past.
Regaining the Ottoman Empire
Spanning much of the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, and lasting for over six centuries, the Ottoman Empire was a colonial power to rival that of any European state. By means of the Caliphate, the rulership of Islam, based in Istanbul, the Ottomans exerted control over all their subject regions. Following its defeat in World War I, the Ottoman Empire crumbled, and the new Turkish Republic was formed as a secular state by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
However, Islamism has resurfaced and combined with Turkish nationalism to influence Turkish policy. Turkey, while still aspiring to EU membership, has now shown signs that it is reaching out to the Islamic lands of the Middle East and North Africa, seeking alliances—or, as in Ottoman times, regional hegemony, according to Israeli writer, Caroline Glick.
Turkey’s Alleged Grievances against Israel
Once a firm ally of Israel, Turkey, under the Islamist government of Erdogan and his AK Party, has in the past few years increasingly distanced itself from the Jewish state. Internally, Turkey has seen decreased freedom of the press, decreased power of the military—once the defender of secularism and bulwark against Islamism—and interference with academic freedom under Erdogan’s leadership.
Along with those changes has come Turkey’s increasing animosity toward Israel, which has been given special attention by Ankara. To justify his aggressive stance, Erdogan cites, among other factors: Israel’s alleged ill- treatment of the Palestinians, the Israeli-Gaza War of 2009, and the Mavi Marmara incident.
Turkey’s Actions: Threats, Expulsions, and Vetoes
Prime Minister Erdogan has made no attempt to conceal his anger with Israel, as Turkish actions bear out. Within the last two years, Turkey has:
- vetoed the opening of an Israeli NATO office in Brussels
- demanded that Israel be denied access to NATO military secrets
- sponsored the 2010 Gaza flotilla, allowing “activists” with known terrorist ties to organize in Turkey
- persisted in demanding that Israel apologize for the deaths of the nine Turks killed on the Mavi Marmara, in the face of repeated Israeli refusals
- demanded names and addresses of Israeli soldiers involved in that incident
- expressed anger at the UN Palmer Report which determined that Israel's blockade of Gaza was legal
- cancelled Israeli contracts and expelled the Israeli ambassador
- inexplicably detained and humiliated Israeli travelers at Istanbul airport
- threatened that Turkish warships will accompany any future “aid” convoys to Gaza
- threatened that Turkish warships will monitor Israeli actions in the Eastern Mediterranean
Erdogan Overlooks Middle Eastern Atrocities
Despite Erdogan's targeting of Israel, the rest of the Middle East, if seen in perspective, would be far more fertile ground for his outraged campaign. In many areas there, exploitation, persecution, atrocities, and murder are daily fare. The entire Muslim Middle East, the Arab Spring protests notwithstanding, is known for its abysmal record on human rights, as amply documented by Amnesty International. Syria alone, so far in 2011, has killed over 2000 of its own protesting citizens—torturing and maiming as it goes. Yemen, Libya, Egypt, Bahrain, Lebanon—all are notorious for their lack of freedom.
Turkey itself has a far from spotless record. Turkey invaded and occupied Cyprus, still denies the Armenian genocide, and restricts the freedoms of its own minorities. It is waging a war against the Kurds, as reported by the monitoring group, Missing Peace. Turkey is presently conducting air strikes on the Kurds in northern Iraq, killing over 100 in one bombing alone in the summer of 2011—with the Turkish press forbidden access to the area, so that the civilian death count is unreported.
In light of these Middle Eastern realities, Israel’s actions which have so angered Erdogan, and the Turkish population, seem minor in comparison.
Yet Turkey with 80 million population obsesses over Israel with its 6 million. Since May 2010, the accusation that Israel acted illegally in boarding the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish “aid” ship, fuelled this seeming obsession. The recently released UN Palmer Report affirmed that Israel's Gaza blockade was legal, yet it was critical of both Turkey and Israel. The Israeli government has adopted the report, with reservations, but Turkey, which expected a complete condemnation of Israel, has rejected it. Erdogan’s recent angry reactions have diverted attention away from the Palmer Report’s conclusion that Israel was justified in boarding the Turkish ship.
Also, the factors of the Turkish Prime Minister’s personality and beliefs cannot be discounted. Quick to show anger, he is known for his lack of self-control. Showing a decided lack of political correctness, he stormed out of a debate with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Davos, Switzerland in 2009, saying, "When it comes to killing, you know very well how to kill," according to Forbes.com. His "religiously inspired Jew-hatred" can be traced back to his youth, states author Andrew Bostom. Yet, Erdogan boldly declares, "There has never been anti-Semitism in the history of this country ..." reports Hurriyet Daily News.
Return of the Caliphate
With its anti-Israel foreign policy—now bordering on brinksmanship— continuing unabated, and with such actions boosting Turkey’s standing among Muslim states, what does the future hold?
In the rapidly changing Muslim Middle East, leaderless since the last caliph died in 1924, Turkey stands to emerge as the dominant power. The return of the Caliphate after an 87-year hiatus might seem far-fetched. But what other goal would motivate Erdogan to break long-standing alliances and alienate the only other stable state— and therefore Turkey’s only reliable ally—in the region?
Sources:
- Bostom, Andrew, "Israeli Ambassador Confirms: Erdogan Hates us Religiously." American Thinker, August 25, 2011.
- "Erdogan takes off gloves: Kurds pay the price." Missing Peace, August 28, 2011
- "Erdogan warns Israel:Turkey can send warships to east Mediterranean at any time." Haaretz, September 15, 2011
- Lewis, Bernard, What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002
- "Turkey threatened to veto Israel in NATO." Today's Zaman, September 18, 2011.
Jen L. Jones - Based in Canada, Jones writes on human rights, history,and the natural world. She focuses also on Turkish and Scottish travel and ...
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