TURKEY HAS ROLE TO PLAY
By George S. Hishmeh
ghishmeh@gulfnews.com

Gulf News
y-has-role-to-play-1.532314
Nov 25 2009
UAE

Erdogan’s condemnation of Israeli strikes on Gaza has helped to usher
in a new spirit of Turkish cooperation with neighbouring countries

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Image Credit: APA new
bright star seems to have risen above the Arab world, heralding new
relationships that could benefit the region as a whole.

The Arab change of heart towards Turkey, the successor of the dreaded
Ottoman Empire, a colonial regime that ruled the Arab world for
centuries and collapsed about 90 years ago, came when the moderate
Islamist Justice and Development Party was elected five years ago. And
for the first time in nearly 100 years, Turkish troops descended
on Lebanon as part of a UN peacekeeping force following Israel’s
occupation of the Shiite-dominated South Lebanon.

But what has impressed Arabs recently has been Turkey’s protests
against Israeli policies, especially its brutal assault on Gaza last
December, which left about 1,400 Palestinians dead and, in the opinion
of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’s
Goldstone Report, amounted to war crimes. In the aftermath, Turkey
cancelled joint air force exercises and there have been unconfirmed
reports that Turkey may stop buying Israeli arms.

Turkey’s new focus on its neighbours is also believed to be a
reaction to the lackadaisical attitude of the European Union, which
has yet to act on Turkey’s 10-year-old application for membership
in the 27-member organisation. This is over and above US President
Barack Obama’s symbolic gesture in visiting Turkey in April, which
is believed to have underlined Turkey’s geostrategic importance,
emphasising the country’s role as a bridge between East and West and
acknowledging its mediation in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"For all the country’s wounded pride, Turkish officials and analysts
insist Turkey has no intention of abandoning the West," reported The
New York Times earlier this month. "Rather than reorienting Turkish
foreign policy toward the East, Egemen Bagis, Turkey’s minister
for European Union affairs, argued in an interview that the recent
outreach to its neighbours including the opening of its border with
Syria, the signing of a historic agreement with Armenia to establish
normal diplomatic relations and the engagement of Iran was helping
Turkey become a more effective interlocutor for its Western allies."

Benefit

Whether or not this is the case, the Arab world certainly stands to
benefit from improved ties with Turkey.

Dr Clovis Maksoud, a former Arab League ambassador and director of the
Centre for the Global South at the American University in Washington,
believes that the "improved relations between Arabs and others are
determined by those who constitute either an actual or potential
deterrence for Israel’s intransigence and impunity concerning
Palestinian rights."

He adds, "This is particularly true when the Arab deterrent to Israeli
aggression is relatively dysfunctional in view of the peace treaties,
especially between Egypt and Israel. The broad perception becomes
that Turkey in some form is taking the task of filling a deficit
in Arab deterrence. This does not mean that Israel is breaking some
of its strategic alliances, however, it is diminishing dramatically
developments of these alliances."

There is no doubt that the ability of Arab governments to influence
Western governments is virtually nil, as evidenced in the case of the
Obama administration, which to date has been impervious to Arab, and
particularly Palestinian pleas to proceed with the peace negotiations.

More to the point, the refusal of the Obama administration to challenge
the rightist government of Israel has been bewildering. Is this a
result of US timidity or, as optimists continue to believe, does
Obama have something up his sleeve that will be revealed in due course?

Either way, the current impasse has given Turkey, under the able
leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President
Abdullah Gul, who once lived and worked in Saudi Arabia, a golden
opportunity to develop strong ties with its Arab neighbours.

More developments are expected when the Turkish leader visits
Washington for talks with Obama next month.