Turkey claims to be the leader of the peacemaker in the Middle East
Hamas leader Haniyeh and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan: “Palestinian brothers - unite!”
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God,” the Scripture says. However, paradoxically it may sound, it remains true that, on the one hand, the world is not beneficial to everyone and therefore peacekeepers will always have enemies, on the other - not all peacekeepers are an example of peaceful doves and pursue only the goal of silence and tranquility in this troubled world.
Official Ankara assumed the difficult role of a peacemaker in resolving the conflict between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah. Open hostility between them began in the 2007 year, after the seizure of Hamas power in Gaza. The main reason for the strife was the conciliatory stance of Fatah towards Israel, which the Islamic Hamas categorically does not accept.
For reconciliation of the parties, Turkey undertook a very interesting “shuttle” diplomacy - the leaders of the organizations alternately visit Ankara for political consultations. For example, in mid-December, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah, came to Turkey with a friendly visit. And at the beginning of this year, at the invitation of the head of the government Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniya, visited Ankara for three days. The official purpose of the visit was to assist Turkey in restoring the Gaza Strip, and the unofficial goal was to revive the friendly relations between Fatah and Hamas.
The ultimate goal of a hard reconciliation is to create a unified state that includes the Gaza Strip, which would greatly facilitate further recognition of a united Palestine of the United Nations.
Turkey has traditionally been an international defender of both Fatah and Hamas. It must be said that the recognition of Turkey is very important for both Palestinian factions, especially for Hamas, which most states still consider terrorist. The protective role of the friendly position of official Ankara is difficult to overestimate, given that Turkey is a member of NATO and one of the important allies of the United States.
No one is surprised when Turkey is credited with the revived ambitions of the Ottoman Empire, and it is increasingly confident of claiming the role of the unconditionally recognized regional leader of the Middle East.
It should be noted that not everyone likes the position of official Ankara in the country. The opposition is extremely dissatisfied with the Ottoman claims of the government and blames Erdogan for a strong reassessment of his own capabilities, bordering on delusions of grandeur.
At the moment, the place of the Arab leader uniting the countries of the Middle East remains vacant. All the states that previously claimed it are busy solving their own problems.
Dictator Bashar Assad's regime in Syria is desperately fighting for survival. Saudi Arabia is forced to resolve conflicts involving insurrection in the immediate environment - in Yemen and Bahrain. With difficulty, the military government of Egypt holds in the hands the complicated domestic political situation.
Iran, the former leader of the region, is on the verge of a big war, moreover, official Tehran has strongly discredited itself before the Arab revolutionaries by their attitude to their own opposition.
Turkey, on the contrary, occupied an extremely advantageous position during the Arab Spring. It supported the revolutionary forces in Egypt, Libya and Syria at a very suitable time, deserving the indisputable authority of the new states.
Official Ankara welcomed the victory of moderate Islamists in the first post-revolutionary elections in Egypt and Tunisia. The election winners, both the Egyptian Muslim Brothers and Tunisian Enkhanda, expressed their admiration for the ruling Justice and Development Party in Turkey and declared it a role model. It is obvious that relations of Turkey with the states renewed by the revolution will soon become even closer and more friendly.
By claiming to be a leader, Turkey has greatly changed its foreign policy position. For a long time, official Ankara did her best to avoid sharp corners in order not to have any serious problems with its neighbors. Today, the Turkish government is actively in favor of changing the political regime in Syria and is sending its own troops to make regular raids on the territory of Northern Iraq.
As a result of the active foreign policy position of Turkey, its former ally - Israel is constantly subjected to provocations.
Recall that friendly relations between military allies were violated at the end of May 2010, when the Israeli border special forces attacked "Flotilla peace, "trying to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Then killed nine citizens of Turkey.
Official Ankara reacted to the seizure of the Turkish vessel and the death of citizens extremely negatively: the Turkish ambassador from Tel Aviv was recalled and the air communication with Israel was closed; Unofficial Turkey answered even tougher - anti-Israeli rallies were held, during which Nazi symbols were used.
In September last year, when the Israeli government refused to apologize for the attack, Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador and announced that all relations with the former ally were curtailed.
It is obvious that Erdogan’s active participation in reconciliation between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah further aggravates relations between Turkey and Israel.
I must say that official Ankara is increasingly taking on the role of a peacemaker and a universal negotiator. It is enough to recall the recent history with the exchange of an Israeli soldier for a thousand Arab prisoners, which made so much noise last year. Then Turkey was the main figure in the negotiations and showed that in the near future, she could claim the role of the main checkpoint at the gate to the Middle East. Today, both Brussels and Washington are forced to resort to the mediation of Turkey, when it becomes necessary to negotiate with Syria or Iran. It remains questionable for how long official Ankara will be able to stay in a neutral position of a mediator-peacemaker.
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