Erdogan's speeches regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict have occupied the agenda recently. First, he described Hamas as a mujahideen group. Later, he held an action in support of Palestine in Istanbul. It should be noted that before the conflict, both countries (Israel and Turkiye) started the process of normalization.
How will Erdogan's ambitious and scandalous speeches affect the near future of Turkish diplomacy? Will this affect his mediation activities?
Turkish politician Ismail Cingöz said in his statement to Ednews that the reason for Turkiye's taking such a position is the West's position against other terrorist organizations.
"Turkiye wants to send a message to the world by calling Hamas "mujahdeen". Because while Turkiye called "PYD", the Syrian branch of "PKK" as a terrorist group, several allied countries of in the West called the group an organization fighting against ISIS, so that's why Erdogan took such a position against Hamas. As in the case of the Ukraine-Russia war, Turkiye defended its neutrality and was able to consider the role of mediation through dialogue and consultation with both sides. However, there has been no indication from the parties acknowledging Turkiye as a mediator. It is clear to everyone that the United States is behind the conflict between Hamas and Israel. Because it started to lose its position in the region. At the same time, Israel entered the period of alliance with certain agreements by giving Haifa shipping port to China. This whole period was an indicator of the loss of hegemonic power of the United States in the Middle East. Since the Middle East energy corridors and high natural resources of the region are important for the USA, there is a high probability that they were behind all of this.
In addition, the political scientist emphasized that Turkiye will protect the rights of Palestinians within the framework of international law, but time will tell what effect it will have on the current political process:
"Undoubtedly, the conflict had an impact on the Middle East, especially on Turkiye. It can be estimated that the general processes that took place brought diplomacy to a crossroads. Jerusalem is a holy place for Turkiye. The country, which is religiously close to Palestine, also has certain economic and commercial agreements with Israel. Turkiye's main goal here is to be able to act as a mediator, as in the Russian-Ukrainian war. Showing his position regarding the protection of the acts committed against the Palestinian people by Turkiye, he emphasized that this will be voiced in international law. Time will tell how the events will unfold in Turkish politics."
Matthew Bryza, an international expert and member of the board of the Jamestown Foundation, who previously served as the US ambassador to Azerbaijan, concluded that Erdogan was emotionally affected by the ongoing processes. He believes that because all the world's attention is on the conflict, there will be no serious reaction to Erdogan:
"İn the beginning of this latest Israel-hamas conflict, when Hamas savagery resulted in the murder of 1400 Israeli civilians. President Erdogan made clear that he condemned those actions by Hamas. But as the days have worn on, and as Israel has apparently inflicted collective punishment on the Palestinian population of Gaza, President Erdogan seems to have shifted emotionally. And I think he is taking literally the name of his political party, meaning justice and development. And he fears that the Palestinian people collectively in Gaza are being treated unjustly and contrary to international humanitarian law. İn any case, his sincere condemnation of the treatment of the Palestinians in Gaza is making it impossible for his attempt to normalize relations between Turkiye and Israel, which were intense. And you may recall that President Erdogan and Prime Minister Netanyahu met in New York a month ago, just a little over a month ago. And now Israel has pulled out all of its diplomats from Turkiye. How the rest of the world will react to President Erdogan's statements? I don't know think there will be much of a reaction because the world is so focused just on on Israel and the Palestinians at this point."
Akbar Novruz
