Reviled when Ottoman empire collapsed, Turks are now regional heroes, writes MICHAEL JANSENin Amman, Jordan
TURKEY BECAME the regional champion of the Palestinian cause when Israeli commandos stormed the blockade-busting flotilla bound for Gaza and killed nine Turkish activists.
Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the Israeli action and called for the creation of an international commission to probe Israel’s policy of blockading Gaza and investigate its military action against the flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and human rights activists.
The Turkish flag flies everywhere in Gaza and sprouts from balconies of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and from lamp posts in several Arab capitals.
“The Turks have never been so popular. They were reviled when the Ottoman empire collapsed,” said a veteran Jordanian observer.
“Our grandparents were Ottomans. They spoke Turkish as their second language and served in the Ottoman administration. Our parents were heavily influenced by the Ottomans. We became Arab nationalists and sought to free our countries from the colonial powers who took over from the Ottomans. The new generation sees the Turks as friends. The Turkish flag is everywhere.”
His wife, who is also from a prominent Ottoman family, agreed. The couple were amazed by the sudden sea change in Arab attitudes towards Turkey and its citizens. The Arabs seem to have forgotten antagonisms generated by centuries of misrule by the Ottomans, whom intellectuals used to accuse of destroying Arab civilisation and culture.
The Jordanian commentator explained why there has been this sea change.
“Our governments have failed to achieve any breakthrough in the conflict with Israel. They have failed to deliver democracy and prosperity. They refuse to confront the West and Israel,” he said.
“From Morocco to the Gulf, our rulers are finished. People are tired and disillusioned. They see Turkey advancing economically and politically. It has a respectable government. It is standing up to western pressures and trying to achieve something. Turkey has become the champion of Gaza, the symbol of the Arab cause of Palestine.”
Although Ankara has made it clear it will not give up its ties to the West, cut relations with Israel, or leave Nato, Turkey is now a focus of hope for the discouraged and disaffected Arab people.
Arab governments wary of Turkey due to its close relations with the US and Israel and its membership of Nato are now embracing Ankara because they have no choice.
Members of the educated elite who used to deride Turkey and dismiss the Turks as backward Anatolians are keen for rapprochement. Arab businessmen who have always looked westward for trade are now looking to Turkey as a source of reasonably priced goods and services.
Relations are likely to prosper because Turkey is not aligned with any Palestinian faction and simply supports the lifting of the Gaza blockade, a demand put forward also by most western governments.
Turkey’s stance must be contrasted with that of Iran, which actively supports the Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hizbullah movements.
Furthermore, unlike Iran, Turkey is not seeking to export a revolutionary ideology to neighbouring countries. While Tehran’s clerical regime won over Arab public opinion in 1979-80 by castigating the West, cutting relations with Israel and embracing the Palestine Liberation Organisation, its drive to promote its radical Shia fundamentalist agenda alienated both Sunni Arab governments and citizens.
Iran’s strong influence in postwar Iraq is seen as particularly alarming and malign by Arab thinkers and informed citizens. Turkey is not burdened with such baggage.