Turkish glamour

By Salama A Salama

It is sad to see the Arab world so eager for a role model, so desperate for a saviour to lead the way. Recently, Turkey became a role model for many Arabs, mostly because of its refusal to kowtow to Israel.

When Israel objected to a Turkish television series showing Israeli agents kidnapping infants, Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, summoned the Turkish ambassador to his office, sat him on a low chair, and berated him for his country's perceived misrepresentation of the Israelis. The Turks reacted to the insult, giving Israel an ultimatum and forcing it to apologise.
This was enough to make Turkey a hero in many an Arab eye. Under Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has grown into a regional power, one that is respected by friend and foe. Turkey may have close military relations with Israel, but this didn't stop it from taking a firm stand on Israel's invasion of Gaza.

Meanwhile, Turkey has amiable relations with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. It has mediated between Syria and Israel. And it wasn't swayed by the US-Israeli campaign to demonise Iran.
Turkey is no longer the lackey of NATO as it once was. Under Erdogan, it has found its own voice. Was this newfound independence prompted by Europe's rebuff to Turkey's EU membership request? Perhaps so, but the point is that Turkey has reinvented itself as a country with much leverage around the region. Turkey can now rely on strong ties with Arab and Muslim countries to boost its international status.

Remarkably, Turkey hasn't even downgraded its relations with Israel. Since the angry exchange over the ambassador incident, Israel has sent its foreign minister to Ankara to discuss an airplane deal. Turkey is still talking to Israel, and it is not abandoning the Palestinians to their fate.

Compare this to the situation in Egypt, where we're in the middle of a debate about the future president and whether he needs the approval of America and Israel. The debate, triggered by remarks from Mustafa Al-Feki and inviting comments by Hassanein Heikal among others, has only added to the state of political confusion in the country.

Egypt cannot be like Israel and is not trying to be like Turkey. We may have given the US all the leeway it asked for in matters pertaining to the peace process, and yet we are far from achieving anything. Despite all our endeavours, America remains as biased to Israel as before, if not more so. Right now, it seems that America has no leverage on Israel, and yet Egypt and the rest of the Arabs are being asked for more concessions everyday. For now, the Arabs have no say whatsoever in the Middle East peace process.

No wonder we are so blown away by Turkey, a country that not only has close ties with the Americans, the Europeans and the Israelis, but with Iran and other Gulf states.
To be fair, Egypt is too involved in the Middle East conflict to act as Turkey does. Since the Camp David Accords, Egypt has had a historical and moral responsibility towards peace. And it has tried to mediate, albeit its peace efforts have lost it many friends, and introduced certain awkwardness in our politics, as in the case of Gaza.

Recently, civil society and European groups have shown sympathy to Gaza, sympathy that we failed to use to pressure Israel and to further Palestinian reconciliation. Ironically, it was Turkey who interceded to smooth the situation involving relief convoys heading to Gaza.

Al-Ahram Weekly
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/982/op4.htm