"Return of the Turks as Middle East Kingmakers"
Well, you know, I don't get it sometimes. Here's Foreign Policy, reporting the return of the Turks as the Middle East kingmakers:
The popularity of Turkey and Erdogan within the Arab world has already allowed the AKP to turn traditional Turkish foreign policy on its head by drawing strength from its common heritage and history with its Middle Eastern neighbors rather than being a handicap. Turkish foreign policy under the AKP has come to articulate a vision for improving relations with all its neighbors, particularly by privileging its former Ottoman space in the Middle East, such as Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria where agreements are being negotiated for a free-trade zone and an eventual Middle Eastern Union. The growing economic and political engagement of Turkey with the Middle East has already lead to a significant realignment in the region.
Middle East, behold your kingmakers! These are the guys who turned out today in Taksim to support the Egyptian people--all 17 of them. Usually you need to take a journalist's estimate of the size of a crowd with a grain of salt, but this time you can actually count them for yourself:
(Ricochet members will remember the guy in the center of the bottom row. I hate to say it, but he'd show up no matter what they were protesting. I hope one day one of those pretty girls finally goes home with him, don't you? Sweet hopeful Turkish protesting guy: I am on your side.)
To put the size of this protest in scale, here's the rest of Taksim Square.
I note also that this was directly after Friday afternoon prayers, and if ever there was a time for these Turkish kingmakers to show their might, this was it.
I'm not joking, that was it. I understand a few Islamists have been protesting at the mosques, too, but not many.
Well, for what it's worth, here's your solidarity, Arab world!
Oh, and this part was absolutely my favorite. Now, I should stress that she is not a Turk: She's North African, or so I assume from the accent. She's ripping her boyfriend a new one because he wanted to watch the protest for another few minutes. "We only have three hours left for shopping!"
It is just one of the many great mysteries of life that somehow the AKP has "turned traditional Turkish foreign policy on its head by drawing strength from its common heritage and history with its Middle Eastern neighbors rather than being a handicap."
America, please hire the AKP's PR firm. They're geniuses.
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Comments :
Dec '10
Re: "Return of the Turks as Middle East Kingmakers"
Claire, if you happen to know, where did the photo accompanying the FP article originate? Are those protesters in Cairo who've put Turkish on some of their signs to appeal to viewers in Turkey? Has there been any big anti-Mubarak demonstration in Turkey in the last couple of weeks?
Re: "Return of the Turks as Middle East Kingmakers"
I'm guessing, but don't know for sure, that this was the protest I heard about by Islamists at Fatih mosque. Someone told me there were "about a thousand" people there, but I sure can't confirm that. I repeat that in a city of 15 million people, those are really trivial numbers.
A Turk said to me today, "We've been suffering just like the Egyptians, and when did the Arabs ever protest for us?" Another said, "It can't really be the Egyptians behind that, it has to be the United States. Nothing happens in this region without the United States' permission." The implication was--"We're not fools. We're not going out in the streets to do the Americans' bidding."
It's also interesting, of course, that the only people interested in protesting are the Islamists.
May '10
Re: "Return of the Turks as Middle East Kingmakers"
Claire, One of the sources of frustration is that you are have an intrinsic & in depth understanding of the middle east and Turkey. It is easy/obvious to feel the frustration in your writing, you lay the root issues out clearly but people don't have the same urgency/empathy that corresponds. It is difficult to understand/feel deeply unless you can truly appreciate the mindset. E.G. Try explaining poverty to someone who has not traveled or lived in the developing world. What we call poverty BEGINS at a 68% level of world wide earning levels. Try explaining the reality of life in a system that is 100% corrupt (you do a great job here).
My point is, that what is happening & the paradigms required to understand it is pretty unique. I have wandered the globe for 60 years and do not understand this part of the world - and have gaping holes in what I believe I understand.
Be patient with us and teach. And be willing to be proved wrong.
Jul '10
Re: "Return of the Turks as Middle East Kingmakers"
Turkish foreign policy under the AKP has come to articulate a vision for improving relations with all its neighbors
That doesn't seem quite right to me. Let's see, the piece names Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, anyone missing?
Oh wait here they are:
In today's Middle East, states like Iran and Israel through their rhetoric (particularly in the case of the former) and actions (more in the case of the latter) raise suspicion, anxiety and fear of revisionism, triggering an accelerated securitization in the region and do not offer a compelling sustainable economic or political model of success.
So, unlike Turkey, Israel doesn't offer a compelling economic or political model and like Iran, Israel is the cause of regional anxiety. Got it.
Re: "Return of the Turks as Middle East Kingmakers"
When it comes to Turkey, I'm proved wrong every day. If you'd asked me, I would have definitely said there would be massive protests against Mubarak, if only as a vehicle for Turks to let off steam about Erdogan. I would have been quite wrong, obviously, and clearly there's something I need to learn from that.
Dec '10
Re: "Return of the Turks as Middle East Kingmakers"
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
When it comes to Turkey, I'm proved wrong every day. If you'd asked me, I would have definitely said there would be massive protests against Mubarak, if only as a vehicle for Turks to let off steam about Erdogan. I would have been quite wrong, obviously, and clearly there's something I need to learn from that. · Feb 4 at 10:14am
Is it possible that the AKP wants only those protests about Egypt that it can control, ones whose focus will remain solely on Mubarak? Or does the ruling party in Turkey not wield the kind of control that would let them suppress an uncontrolled rally, one that might direct anger at Erdogan?
It could be, like your friend said, that Egypt's situation doesn't resonate with most Turkish citizens. Of course, that could imply that the reason the Palestinian's plight does resonate is that there's a strong element of Israel-hatred in Turkey. You've alluded to some of that -- is it a mainstream view among Turks?
Sep '10
Re: "Return of the Turks as Middle East Kingmakers"
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
When it comes to Turkey, I'm proved wrong every day. If you'd asked me, I would have definitely said there would be massive protests against Mubarak, if only as a vehicle for Turks to let off steam about Erdogan. I would have been quite wrong, obviously, and clearly there's something I need to learn from that. · Feb 4 at 10:14am
Claire, I dropped this thought on another thread, so feel free to swat it down because there are obvious counter examples (Indonesia, Pakistan) but I was wondering if Islamic hegemony is limited by the Arabic languages the original texts are written in. In other words, does radical Islam have a self limiting mechanism buried within it? I haven't attempted to develop the thought any further than that.
Nov '10
Re: "Return of the Turks as Middle East Kingmakers"
Palaeologus:
That doesn't seem quite right to me. Let's see, the piece names Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, anyone missing?
I noticed that too.Odd.
"Turkish foreign policy under the AKP has come to articulate a vision for improving relations with all its neighbors, particularly by privileging its former Ottoman space in the Middle East, such as Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria where agreements are being negotiated"
Am I wrong, or is this just a warm, fluffy way of saying that they all agree that a new holocaust would be a swell idea?