THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MIDDLE EAST FOR TURKEY
View by Osman Bahadir Dincer
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
April 30 2007
When we hear the phrase "Middle East"; we are immediately reminded
of "problems". In this regard, Palestinian Issue is the first one
we remember among the others. For many people "Middle East" means
Palestinian Issue.
This problem is one of the most important motivations that strengthens
the religious radicalism and escalate the violence in the region and
in the whole Muslim World, as well. This problem lies on the bases
of many problems emerging in the Middle East. Actually, even last war
in Lebanon and the tensions between Iran and the U.S. and Israel are
partially results of Palestinian Israeli conflict.
This conflict has a priority to be solved. We can not imagine stability
in the region without solving this key problem.
Palestinian Issue has become an issue exploited by many diverse
circles in the sake of their own interests. For instance, not only
the Arab leaders misusing the deadlock of the issue in their internal
politics but also some terrorist groups justifying their activities
due to this problem obviously have been exploiting the conflict.
Counter to the general understanding, this issue is not a problem
of just Arabs and Israelis. Middle Eastern problems, particularly
the Palestinian Issue, are very critical for Turkey as well. Then,
why the Palestinian Issue (regarding to the Middle East) is really
important for Turkey?
If we remember the days that we were discussing sending our troops
to Lebanon in the UN Peace Force, it can be easily grasped that
the debates were beyond just sending troops. In those days the real
debate was how the relations between Turkey and Middle East should
be shaped in terms of foreign policy. There were many opinions. On
the one hand some argued that ‘we should avoid the crisis in the
region’, on the other hand some argued that ‘we must appear in the
region as a power’. Each group was supporting its ideas with logical
justifications. However, in this essay, I will not focus on these
discussions. Generally, I will try to clarify the current importance
of Palestinian Issue rather than its historical meaning for Turkey
(I accept that Palestinian Issue is the basis for all the other
problems in the region).
The complexities of Middle East, its dividedness, its segregated,
marginalized and isolated societies have been affecting Turkey
profoundly not only in terms of security but also in terms of internal
politics, economics and foreign politics.
The sense of mistrust toward Western World, religious radicalism
and the fundamentalist movements have found bases of spreading
and being strengthened in Turkey by referring to and exploiting
Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Hence, the settlement of this problem
is closely related to the domestic security and the foreign relations
of Turkey.
Palestinian Issue destroys the regional stability and even drives the
neighboring states into concrete struggles. Unfortunately, this means
perpetual instability or possibility of threat of war around Turkey.
Palestinian Issue provides terrorist organizations a great flexibility
of maneuver. For instance, PKK and some other organizations have
taken advantage of the deficiencies of power caused by Palestinian
Issue and utilized the terrorist networks provided by Palestinian
Issue. Moreover, Palestinian Issue has been functioning as if it is an
ideological school for the terrorist organizations. It can be easily
said that there is no any terrorist organization which has never
trained in this ideological school. Many domestic/external terrorist
organizations carrying out attacks against Turkey either emerged in
this region or ideologically were fed by this problem. In this sense,
PKK, DHKP-C or some Armenian organizations are typical examples.
Palestinian Issue terrorizes not only the Palestine and Israel but
also the whole region. It prevents the regional cooperation and foreign
investments. For instance, the Middle East is one of the worst regions
in the world drawing attention in terms of foreign investment (except
oil). Regarding to the regional co-operations and integrations, the
Middle East is at the bottom level among the other regions. In this
regard, we can not deny the role of Palestinian Issue.
Palestinian Issue averts the normalization process in the Arab World
including the southern neighbors of Turkey. Reactional and emotional
bearings make the possibility of strategic, political and economical
co-operations with these countries impossible. As a result of this,
Turkey’s southern border is always faced with a threat.
The permanency of Palestinian Issue raises the emotions of loneness and
‘damnification’ in Turkish society. The simply arm-based policies of
Israel and U.S, their attempts to expose some policies, violation of
international law and not being aware of justice lessen the trust to
the international relations and laws in the Turkish public opinion.
Palestinian Issue plays an accelerative role in every political,
ethnical, religious and armed events taking place in the region
and the Islamic World. For instance, Palestinian Issue is the most
referenced issue in Al Qaeda’s operations. Al Qaeda is one of the best
(!) exploiters of this issue by the way.
Palestinian Issue has an important role even in the Iraqi case. If
the problems in Iraq and Palestine can not be solved, the region
between Iraq and Palestine -Jordan- also can be "Palestinized". It
means that a chaotic atmosphere in the whole region – a wide area
from Mediterranean to Persian Gulf- is not a remote possibility.
In short, counter to the general expectation, Palestinian Issue has
many impacts on Turkey. Turkey’s foreign policies, domestic political
balances, security and economy are directly affected. Historically,
it is obviously known that this issue is deeply related to Turkey. In
addition to that, as it can be understood by the explanations mentioned
above, Turkey is bound to improve its relations with the region. Turkey
should be involved in the politics of region profoundly.
All the issues in the region -Iraq, Lebanon or Palestine and Israel-
have deep impacts on Turkey. Turkey has neglected its possible roles
in the region for several years. It is the fact that there were many
mutual mistakes in the past. Yet, now the important thing is trying to
improve the relations embarked to get better recently. In this regard,
policy makers should be aware of the importance of being involved in
the region and should be more creative and eager in policy making.