Israel Matzav

Turkish Foreign Minister sees Israel disappearing

The Turks are sounding more and more like the Iranians all the time.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a group of reporters in Istanbul, which included some Israelis, that he sees Israel disappearing into a binational state which would come under Turkish influence along with the rest of the Middle East.

Israel will not be able to remain over time an independent country, and a bi-national state will be established on all of the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River in which Jews and Palestinians will live,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in a number of meetings that he held with journalists and academics, including a number of Israeli academics. Davutoglu’s vision, which he revisited a number of times, is for Turkey to become a dominant force in the Middle East and further, that it will be the protector state of the above-cited bi-national state within a number of years.

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The central idea that was put forward by Davutoglu, which he has been trying to promote by means of a number of journalists and Turkish government officials, is that Israel as an independent state is illegitimate in the region and, as such, is destined to disappear. That assessment is rooted in a deeper ideology that aspires to restore to Turkey the historic influence it wielded during the era of the Ottoman empire, which ruled the Middle East for close to 400 years. Davutoglu said on a number of occasions that he believed that peace would be restored to the Middle East only in the wake of deep and substantial Turkish intervention.

In other words, Davutoglu and Erdogan aspire to set a new regional order — Erdogan by means of populist rhetoric and closer ties with Turkey’s neighbors, Syria and Iran; Davutoglu by means of promulgating the ideological basis. This new order, as noted, has no room for Israel as an independent state. Both Erdogan and Davutoglu have been advancing a policy that promotes closer ties with Syria and Iran, and moves away from the West. Davutoglu added in his meetings with the journalists and academics that the historic powers, (Britain and France) which conquered the Middle East from the Ottomans, are the ones that are responsible for the difficult situation that currently reigns in the Middle East, since they drew the borders in a way that suited their own political and military interests, without taking into account the demographic affiliation of the region’s residents.

I don't agree with the first sentence of that last paragraph. Davutoglu and Erdogan are apparently interested in restoring the Ottoman Empire, but in that context, Iran would be a rival and not a partner. I believe that Turkey's outreach to Syria is sincere, but it's outreach to Iran is nothing but tactical. That would explain this from a cable of a meeting between US Undersecretary of State William Burns and Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sinirlioglu.

Sinirlioglu contended Turkey's diplomatic efforts are beginning to pull Syria out of Iran's orbit. He said a shared hatred for Saddam had been the original impetus for their unlikely alliance. "Now, their interests are diverging." Once again pitching Israel-Syria proximity talks, Sinirlioglu contended Israel's acceptance of Turkey as a mediator could break Syria free of Tehran's influence and further isolate Iran.

Turkey hates Iran as much as everyone else does. But they want to use Syria to extend their influence throughout the region and to reinstate the Ottoman Empire.

Labels: Ahmet Davutoglu, Ottoman Empire, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Sinirlioglu, William Burns

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:13 PM