Before the turn of the year, the EU published a new report from the still hypothetical candidate country Türkiye. According to this, Turkish foreign policy is only ten percent in line with Brussels’ direction. Turkish support for Hamas is in “absolute contradiction” to the EU. The Turkish government particularly emphasized this point in its reaction to the 141-page report. One sees it as “praise” that the EU criticizes “Türkiye’s principled stance regarding the war between Hamas and Israel”. “In view of the massacre, which is reminiscent of the dark times of the Middle Ages, the EU is on the wrong side of history,” announced the Foreign Ministry in Ankara.
Even before the renewed conflict in the Middle East, relations between Brussels and Türkiye were not good. But there were tentative signs of rapprochement. On October 4th, the internationally renowned “International Crisis Group” wrote that there was “an opportunity for a lasting improvement in relations between Türkiye and the EU”. Erdoğan actually claims to play a leading role in the Muslim world. But Ankara has so far only played a minor role in the struggle for humanitarian access to Gaza, for the freeing of the hostages and in the discussion about long-term peace in the region. So far, hardly anyone has taken up Erdoğan’s suggestion that his country could act as a guarantor for Palestine in negotiations on a two-state solution.
When US Secretary of State Blinken traveled to the region for the first time after the Hamas massacre, he avoided Türkiye. The country was missing from the list again when the State Department announced another trip by the minister later. Blinken did make a short stop in Ankara, but the upset was obvious. According to Turkish reports, Washington expected Erdoğan to receive Blinken. This was rejected in Ankara with the reference that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was Blinken’s counterpart. Erdoğan had recently received the Iranian foreign minister and had him praise him for his support for Hamas. During Blinken’s visit, he ostentatiously stayed in Rize on the Black Sea. Apparently he wanted to express his resentment that US President Joe Biden left him out of his telephone diplomacy.
The Turkish opposition criticizes Erdoğan’s Hamas statements as a strategic mistake. “This has done a lot of damage to Turkish foreign policy. “Türkiye is currently more isolated in foreign policy than it has been in decades, especially when it comes to Middle East issues,” said a representative of the Deva party, which split off from the AKP. The country lost the opportunity to act as a mediator to improve the situation for the Palestinians. The leader of the right-wing conservative Iyi Party said Erdoğan should “behave like a president, not like the spokesman for Hamas.” In doing so, he is only playing into the hands of the “terrorism” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
However, there is rare unity in Turkish politics when it comes to criticism of Israel. Almost all parties speak of Israeli “war crimes” and a “genocide in Gaza”. There is also unanimous condemnation of the US for its support of Israel. This also applies to the public, which is divided on all other issues. Calls for a boycott against Israel are becoming louder and louder everywhere. Not only the Turkish parliament has banned US and Israeli products from the canteen’s range, universities and the Turkish railway are also calling for sanctions. According to Turkey’s trade minister, trade with Israel has reportedly fallen by 50 percent since October 7 as traders and consumers boycotted products from there. The Turkish energy minister announced that all discussions about energy projects with Israel had been stopped.
However, Erdoğan does not want to burn all bridges, if only to continue to play a role in the diplomatic arena. In the same speech in which he denied any further communication with Prime Minister Netanyahu, he announced that the Turkish intelligence chief was in talks with Israel to push for an end to the war.
Meanwhile, Iran appears determined to undermine Erdoğan’s credibility as a supporter of Hamas. Cartoons and videos appeared in regime media accusing Erdoğan of hypocrisy because fuel continued to be delivered to Israel from Turkish ports. There were also calls for demonstrations in front of the Turkish embassy in Tehran.
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