28.11.2024

Hypocrisy in action

Erdoğan speaks fire and fury. Meanwhile, despite the sanctions, it is business as usual. Esen Uslu looks at the relationship between Turkey and Israel

The ongoing war in Palestine is a shining example of the hypocrisy of the Islamist politics currently ruling Turkey. As with other Sunni Islamist regimes in the region, Turkey’s government did not lift a finger to oppose Israel. As the massacres reached a staggering level, the rhetoric of president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reached ever higher levels of fire and fury, but still the government did nothing.

Immediately after October 7 2023, the government kindly asked Hamas representatives, who had been in Turkey for years, to quietly leave. However once the international hue and cry about Hamas ‘terrorism’ had died down, Turkey backstepped. Despite that, rhetoric and action remain in flat contradiction. Some from the government likened Hamas to the Turkish National Forces during the initial stages of the 1920 war with Greece.

The National Forces were a mixture of local militia and regular soldiers from the demobilised Ottoman army, and started the organisational work, as well as the armed struggle against Greek occupation. Following their victory, the National Forces were held in high esteem in the Turkish nationalist mindset. They were also used as an example all round the Middle East to denote national liberation movements. So, establishing a similarity between the National Forces and Hamas ran in direct opposition to the ‘terrorist’ charges.

However, Turkey did nothing in the international arena to stand up against such accusations. And now, at the bottom of the page of many international documents presenting Hamas (or Palestinians in general) as terrorist, Turkey has added its signature. True, Turkey has imposed limited export restrictions to Israel on certain items, as Israel was blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza in April 2024. The level of sanctions increased with a blanket ban on all exports in May. It had exported $5.4 billion worth of goods to Israel a year ago, including steel, chemicals, automotive products, cement, and textiles.

Immediately after the sanctions on exports, firms started looking to fulfil their contracts with Israel by exporting through third party countries. Suddenly Turkey’s exports to Palestine increased a hundredfold - the same steel and cement, etc is now exported to Palestine through Israeli ports. Also Greece and other countries in the region, such as Slovenia, have played their part in supporting Israel by sanctions busting.

Turkey did not impose a blanket ban on third party ships loading and carrying cargo to the regional ports. Many carrying armaments and ammunition to Israel go via Turkish ports, where they load and unload some cargo. For example, 124 vessels from Israel’s ZIM Integrated Shipping Services were expected to use Turkish ports in the three-month period starting from October this year.

There has recently been a government-controlled pro-Palestine demonstration in the centre of Istanbul. However, when students, including Islamists, organised independent demonstrations in city centres, they faced the fury of government forces. They moved their demonstrations to the ports, where many participants were beaten and some arrested.

In the services sector, Israeli companies play a major role in the cyber-security field in Turkey. Some ministries, and even the top army command, are still working with Israeli companies. Even the Turkish Radio and Television Institution has made new contracts with Israeli companies for their digital and mobile services.

The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (Socar) provides the crude oil to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline, which is run by an international consortium dominated by BP, and brings crude oil from the Caspian Sea shore to the north-eastern Mediterranean coast. Then tankers carry the crude oil as well as distilled products - including jet fuel, supplying the Israeli airforce - to the Israeli ports, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Haifa.

Despite export sanctions this trade has continued unabated. Facing an increasing domestic opposition to sending fuel to the genocidal military machine of Israel, Erdoğan’s government claimed that none of the above are Turkish exports, since they are part of an international transit contract, and Turkey as the operator of the pipeline only earns $1.27 per barrel handled, and has no say on who would be the purchaser. Such a shameless line is still maintained by the state-controlled media, and is a glaring example of the continuing decay of the regime led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Actually, Turkey could abide by the International Court of Justice’s interim decisions (while the case brought by South Africa is adjudicated) that Israel must undertake to prevent further harm to civilians by stopping the flow of fuel to the Zionist regime. The ICJ measures are legally binding, and Israel has thus far ignored the court’s demands, so Turkey could seek to avoid complicity in a crime against humanity by implementing the ICJ decision.

We must also remember that Israel was the major supplier of arms and ammunition to the Azerbaijan army during the offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh in Armenia. Turkey also supported the Azerbaijani cause, and the policy lines of Israel and Turkey tacitly ran in parallel, though there was no open agreement. Israel also appeared to support Azerbaijani claims for a land corridor between the Nakhchivan exclave and Azerbaijan proper along the Armenia-Iran border as part of its plan to contain Iran from the north. This policy is also in line with Turkey’s anti-Iran policy.

Israel and Turkey have deployed increasingly fiery language against each other, and some small, but prickly, incidents have characterised their relationship. Some Israeli ministers and parts of the media started to talk about the rightful resistance of Kurds against Turkey’s invasion and occupation of northern Syria and northern Iraq. Erdoğan responded sharply with a speech about “strengthening the internal front”, mentioning that there was a possibility of open hostility from Israel to Turkey’s security and territorial integrity. He claimed that the concept of a ‘Promised Land’ of Israel includes what should be Turkish territory.

Israel’s foreign minister responded by claiming that Erdoğan was more and more resembling the former leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. The Turkish minister of war made a speech saying that Turkey was ready for every possibility, including open hostility, although we should not expect things to go that far soon. Then the foreign minister jumped in to say that a war between Israel and Iran is highly likely, and it may spill over into Turkey, so we must be ready for any such eventuality.

Even though such speeches are for domestic consumption, for the first time Israel was described as a potential enemy. However, such hyperbole may also fan the anti-Semitic tendencies dormant in Turkish society, including Islamist as well as nationalist-secular diehards.

If a Gaza ceasefire is agreed, would Turkey and Israel relations return to status-quo antebellum? Both countries’ expansionist policies are bound to create more trouble. The disputed maritime jurisdiction and exclusive economic zones are matters kept under the lid nowadays, but after a possible ceasefire they may come to the fore once again. Greece, Israel and Egypt tended to stand together against Turkey on these issues before the war, but now Egypt seems quietly to have toned down its big talk, while nowadays Greece is very much aligned with US policies, appearing as a regional champion of Israel. That may also have an effect on Greece-Turkey relations.

So even a ceasefire in Gaza would not do any real good, when it comes to regional politics. Turkey would like to continue its lucrative trade with Israel, while maintaining a rhetorical stance against the Zionist state. Israel would very much like the flow of oil from Turkey to continue, while snapping at Erdoğan’s heels.

Expect ‘business as usual’ to continue for a while - unless, of course, unforeseen circumstances bring about yet another round of alarming changes.