The relationship between Turkey and Israel was just starting to warm up again after more than ten years of chill. The Israeli offensive on Gaza is now putting heavy pressure on that process.
At the Beyazit Mosque there are so many men present at Friday prayers that there is not enough room for everyone inside. So people also pray outside on the square. Some kneel on a piece of cardboard, others place a keffiyeh – the black and white checked Palestinian scarf – or a Palestinian flag in front of them.
Immediately after the prayer, a pro-Palestinian demonstration is held. ‘Greetings Hamas, continue with the resistance’, is chanted, alternating with Allah-u Akbar, ‘God is great’.
One of those present is Müyesse Yagiz, who wears a scarf with the text ‘Al-Quds is ours’, referring to Jerusalem, with an image of the Al-Aksamosque. “A massacre is being committed before the eyes of the world,” Yagiz said, referring to the Israeli bombings in Gaza. “We show that we are against that.”
Erdogan calls the bombing of Gaza ‘a mass murder’
In Turkey, a large part of the population sympathizes with the Palestinians. Politicians on the left and right expressed their support for the people of Gaza.
Yagiz works for IHH, an Islamic aid organization that organized this event. IHH is still active in Gaza. “Right now we are distributing what we still have in stock, but in a day or two those stocks will run out. That is why a humanitarian corridor must be opened as soon as possible,” says Yagiz.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced Israel’s bombing in Gaza and the way Gaza residents are being collectively punished by Israel’s blockade of water and electricity. “Depriving people of basic necessities and bombing houses where civilians live – in short, fighting a conflict with all these kinds of shameful methods – is not a war, it is a mass murder,” Erdogan said this week.
At the same time, Turkey calls for de-escalation and presents itself as a mediator. “As long as this problem is not resolved fairly, our region will yearn for peace,” Erdogan said.
‘There are no citizens in Israel’
Those present at the rally are less in favor of reconciliation. “Soldiers to Gaza,” they shout. Student Yusuf Zorlu also believes that something needs to be done. “All Muslim countries, especially those bordering Palestine, must urgently provide assistance to Gaza,” he said.
He himself ‘fully’ supports ‘the resistance’ of Hamas. He doesn’t want to know anything about civilian deaths. “There are no civilians in Israel,” Zorlu claims. “They are all settlers, invaders who use weapons to drive others out of their homes and usurp their homes.” About the terrorist acts that Hamas committed at the music festival near Gaza, he says that the partygoers had no business there. “It is Palestinian land and they should not have been there.”
In his hands, Zorlu holds a poster with a photo of the Mavi Marmara, a ship on which IHH tried to transport aid to Gaza in 2010. The aim was to break the naval blockade of Gaza, but Israel attacked the ship, killing ten Turkish crew members. This caused a deep crisis in relations between Turkey and Israel.
This summer, Erdogan met with the leader of Hamas
After years of tense relations, ties have recently been strengthened again. Last year, Israel appointed an ambassador to Turkey (and vice versa) and at the last UN General Assembly, Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met for the first time. The question is what will become of the planned cooperation in the fields of energy, tourism and technology.
Turkey has never labeled Hamas as a terrorist organization. This summer, Erdogan met with Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the movement, who resides partly in Turkey and partly in Qatar.
A mediation position would enable Erdogan to maintain relations with both parties. According to the Reuters news agency, Ankara is involved in negotiations about hostage Israelis, but analysts do not expect Turkey to play a major role in further mediation between Israel and Hamas.
A possible ground offensive by Israel will cause more civilian deaths in Gaza. With the broad support for the Palestinians among the population, and within Erdogan’s party and influential Islamic organizations such as IHH, the question is how long Erdogan can keep the fledgling diplomatic relations with Israel intact.
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