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Last update - 19:50 21/02/2009
What is behind Turkey's antagonism toward Israel?
By Anat Lapidot-Firilla
Tags: Gaza, Erdogan, Turkey, Israel

There are many different theories about Turkey's increasingly harsh criticism of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians. Some have suggested that the hostility is grounded in the internal struggle between Turkey's secular military and the country's Islamist ruling party. By this logic, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's attacks on Israel are meant to embarrass the army, which has extensive links with Israel's military establishment. Others view Turkey's vocal support for Hamas as indicative of an explicit decision on the part of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to pull the country out of its alliance with the West - while drawing closer to Iran.

An explanation that has gained acceptance among the shrinking Turkish opposition is that AKP's foreign policy in general, and toward Israel and Hamas in particular, is linked to Erdogan's religious agenda. Others view the escalating anti-Israel rhetoric as a symptom of the populist political atmosphere, as Turkey gears up for local-government elections, in late March. And still others view the heightened tension through the lens of regional and international hegemonic struggles. But, even proponents of that approach are having trouble explaining the intensity and tenacity of Turkish insistence on being the one and only regional mediator, and the rage directed by Erdogan at Israel's premiers (not only Ehud Olmert, but also Ariel Sharon before him) for not giving him proper respect and allowing him to exercise what he suggests is his rightful role as a regional mediator.

Indeed, Erdogan's statements about Israel have to be seen in the context of Turkey's changing self-perception vis-a-vis its neighbors and the rest of the Muslim world. Turks increasingly propound a vision of their nation as the moral leader of both. They see themselves assuming a burden inherited from their Ottoman forbears, whose empire stretched from North Africa to Europe and Central Asia, a mission that includes fostering regional peace and stability, as well as economic prosperity.
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The "Turkish man's burden" requires both taking a more critical stance toward Israel and being seen as protector of the Palestinians. Mediating between Israel and Syria is the other side of the same coin of Turkey's changing self-perception.

In this sense, the shrill complaints about Israel's Gaza offensive do not diverge from the accepted discourse in Turkey in recent years. But it has certainly become sharper and more militant. Attacks on Jewish-owned properties, an "enlisted" press, and the use of state educational and religious institutions to instigate an anti-Israel campaign are only some examples. Israel is portrayed as barbaric, uncivilized, as well as ephemeral, and the Arab regimes that have failed to rush to the defense of the Palestinians are described as dictatorial and lacking in moral legitimacy.

The idea of Turkey as leader of the Sunni Muslim world is not new. It should be recalled that even toward the end of the Ottoman Empire, as the "civilizing project" of founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, which embraced secularism and Westernization, was starting up, a feeling of responsibility toward the Arab and Kurdish periphery was developing. Agents of "the project" were sent out to the provinces to disseminate its ideas, and the descendants of tribal elites from all over the empire were assembled for re-education in Istanbul, in the hope that when they returned home they would spread the values of Turkish civilization. At the time, this sense of burden also competed with parallel French, and even American, cultural enterprises in the region. However, with Ataturk's rise to power at the end of World War I, and during the entire Kemalist period, the civilizing efforts were directed inward, with a policy of disengagement from the Arab and Muslim Middle East prevailing through the 20th century.

Erdogan himself has explained his behavior in Davos, where he stormed off stage in reaction to criticism by Israeli President Shimon Peres, as an attempt to defend the honor of the Turkish nation. He is not the first Turkish leader to feel he is entrusted with such a responsibility. Ataturk, and Adnan Menderes - the prime minister overthrown and hung following a military coup in 1960 - are both examples. However, their declarations used to be focused on Turkey domestically.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union reawakened some imperialist notions in Turkey. It began with a sense that it was Turkey's responsibility to introduce democracy to the Turkic populations in the former Soviet republics. These days, the AKP is conducting an information campaign aimed at repositioning Turkey in Central Asia, the Balkans and the Arab Middle East. In its aspiration to hegemony, Turkey is competing with both Iran and Egypt - and, in its imagination, maybe even Israel.

The Kemalist elite is uncomfortable with this attitude. Its members are embarrassed by Erdogan's public outbursts, even if criticism of Israel is acceptable to most. The premier's "non-normative" outbursts have led some establishment commentators to go so far as to publicly question his psychological stability.

The new Turkish "burden" highlights the fact that Turkey is part of the Muslim Middle East. Just as the Kemalists were gearing up for accession to the European Union, Erdogan came along and emphasized the very elements they had tried to suppress for the past century. Just this week, journalists and academics associated with AKP launched a campaign asserting that Europe has no future without Turkey, a claim that seems detached from 21st-century realities. Reality, rather, demands the furthering of reforms and compliance with EU requirements.

Although it is unlikely to happen, it may now be time for Erdogan and his advisers to reassess their foreign policy toward both Israel and Europe, and to tone down their rhetoric. Erdogan's insistence that he is no anti-Semite is probably sincere. But arguing that the world's media are controlled by Jews may not be the best way for him to make his case.

Anat Lapidot-Firilla is a senior research fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and teaches at the Hebrew University.
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  1.   I am glad I was of some help to Haaretz! 14:01  |  Abecassis 21/02/09
  2.   Ergodan means hot headed Hamas supporter in Turkish 14:09  |  r 21/02/09
  3.   ISLAMIST members of Turkeys current government have been saying 14:19  |  PETER SM 21/02/09
  4.   Erdogan`s AKP Party is Moslem Brotherhood/Ikwan branch in Turkey 14:24  |  Jacob 21/02/09
  5.   An unusual and interesting perspective 14:30  |  Manny Goldstein 21/02/09
  6.   Turkey: Kurd Independence and Apology to Armenians 14:46  |  17 21/02/09
  7.   #5, having an ambition isn`t enough 14:56  |  Abecassis 21/02/09
  8.   Turks, Erdogan and the EU 15:29  |  Anon 21/02/09
  9.   fantastic 16:27  |  Paco 21/02/09
  10.   Who is in NATO Turkey or Israel? 16:32  |  David 21/02/09
  11.   "Strategy of the Periphery" was always flawed 16:53  |  Profesora Isadora 21/02/09
  12.   East or West 17:02  |  Anonymous 21/02/09
  13.   that wont 18:33  |  anonim 21/02/09
  14.   #11 David - Neither one 18:54  |  *BEN JABO 21/02/09
  15.   #15 Do you live in this world? 19:35  |  S.L 21/02/09
  16.   With all due respect to Turkey-a former ally. 20:40  |  Ash 21/02/09
  17.   Paco 21:09  |  Connie 21/02/09
  18.   Answer: The occupation. 21:18  |  Jens 21/02/09
  19.   #18 Couldn`t agree more. 21:47  |  Paul 21/02/09
  20.   they know iran almost has the bomb 21:59  |  q 21/02/09
  21.   Erdogan really was treated shabbily at Davos 22:22  |  newageblues 21/02/09
  22.   Is Turkey is been led astray...no not at all..! 23:04  |  Stephen. 21/02/09
  23.   "Gaza" - what`s that? 23:59  |  John.Hauptman 21/02/09
  24.   Dents Iran`s reach; gets votes 00:04  |  Ibrahim 22/02/09
  25.   Remind Turks they conquered Constantinople only 550 years ago 00:29  |  Avi 22/02/09
  26.   weapon and training to the kurds, attempted regime change 00:52  |  get a clue 22/02/09
  27.   ass trisks benny jibbersih # 14 re david --you are full of BS 00:53  |  American in NY 22/02/09
  28.   wrong again *BEN JABO 00:54  |  guess again 22/02/09
  29.   Ash #16 good ally for America, thats all that counts 00:56  |  American in NY 22/02/09
  30.   Why is this so complex to Israel 01:01  |  John 22/02/09
  31.   NATO 01:07  |  Someone who knows 22/02/09
  32.   If Ergogan is so anti-Israel, why mediate? 02:26  |  Reid 22/02/09
  33.   #29, John, well said 02:33  |  newageblues 22/02/09
  34.   #30 How many Turkish soldiers with NATO forces in Afganistan? 02:50  |  Rob 22/02/09
  35.   To #21 03:14  |  Leslie 22/02/09
  36.   #26 American NUTJOB in NY 03:21  |  * BEN JABO 22/02/09
  37.   SOMEON WHO KNOWS Turkey is getting closer&closer to Islamist Iran 03:49  |  PETER SM 22/02/09
  38.   AMERICAN IN NY and now an increasingly good ally of Iran 03:52  |  PETER SM 22/02/09
  39.   Rob # 31 How many Israelis in Afghaniostan? 05:04  |  American in NY 22/02/09
  40.   To All,; re:Ass Trisks Bin Jibberish It is unfair to beat up on 05:07  |  American in NY 22/02/09
  41.   Peter SM and how does your post relate to this thread of my post 05:09  |  American in NY 22/02/09
  42.   iran-turkey no way 08:40  |  anonim 22/02/09
  43.   #25 Ottoman Empire and others. 14:57  |  Kagan 22/02/09
  44.   Re:Remind Turks they conquered Constantinople only 550 years ago 11:25  |  Kemal 18/05/09
  45.   Turky 17:31  |  Ray 18/05/09
  46.   New horizons 20:28  |  Sharon 12/10/09
  47.   Turkey`s antagonism toIsrael 20:47  |  Norman Gardner 12/10/09
  48.   Turkey`s antagonism toIsrael 21:05  |  Norman Gardner 12/10/09
  49.   Turkey has been a NATO member for years 04:41  |  Taner 27/10/09
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