Erdogan's 'Palestinian cause' and the truths that heroism cannot cover

The Israeli reaction, which has been continuing its attacks, occupations and massacres in Gaza for a year under the name of "fighting against Hamas", causing a great destruction in the city and the death of more than 41 thousand civilians, has carried these attacks, massacres and occupations, which are supported by the USA and the Western imperialists, to the Lebanese territory this time under the name of "fighting against Hezbollah". However, the attitude of President Erdoğan and his government, which proclaims itself to be the "greatest defender of the Palestinian cause" when it comes to talking, in the face of this aggression in the last year has been quite striking in terms of its dependent relations with the USA, NATO and the Western imperialists and the fact that it does not/cannot go beyond the borders drawn by these relations.

In the first days of the Israeli attack and occupation on Gaza (28 October 2023), President Erdoğan, speaking at the Great Palestine Rally organised by the government and its supporters in Istanbul, declared that 'we are on the shore for Gaza' and declared a 'holy war'. Erdoğan's partner in the 'People's Alliance', MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, had also declared that 'I would be ungrateful if I did not set out to protect the children of Gaza', which he called 'the legacy of our ancestors'. Erdoğan and Bahçeli, probably because they could not foresee that Israel's aggression would reach such dimensions, made 'high-dose' statements against Israel in order to turn the Palestinian issue into an issue for domestic exploitation at that time. However, as the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the massacres of civilians, mostly women and children, increased, these statements started to boomerang on the Erdoğan government, which did not/could not take any steps against the Israeli aggression.

Erdoğan declared Netanyahu a "murderer" and Israel a "war criminal", but Turkey's exports to Israel, especially of strategic products such as cement, steel and oil (Azeri oil), continued to increase. Moreover, not only the left-socialist forces protesting against these relations, but also women wearing headscarves, who were once exploited by the government, were subjected to violence and detained in handcuffs.

HE SAID 'IT'S OVER', BUT IT'S NOT.

This hypocritical policy on Gaza and the Palestinian issue played an important role in the AKP's fall to second place in the local elections on 31 March 2024 for the first time since 2002 and in the rise of the Islamist Re-Refah Party, which kept the issue on the agenda. On the issue of trade with Israel, which has continued despite the genocidal massacres in Gaza and the reaction of large sections of society, Erdoğan declared after the election results that 'this is over'. However, it soon became clear that this statement and the decision to cut off trade with Israel was also a deception and that trade with Israel continued in other forms. Companies continued this trade by falsifying the bill of lading (changing the delivery address after the ships left port). Another form of trade with Israel was through fake companies set up in Palestine. For example, trade with Palestine, which was $13 million in January 2024, increased to $128 million in August after the "ban on trade with Israel" (Evrensel, Uğur Zengin news dated 02 September 2024).

The USA, the EU and NATO have not only supported Israel's attacks, occupations and massacres against Gaza, which killed tens of thousands of civilians, in the name of 'Israel's right to self-defence', but also continued their military and financial aid uninterruptedly. Today, they are also supporting the Israeli attack and occupation of Lebanon under the pretext of 'fighting against Hezbollah', which they have placed on the list of terrorist organisations, but which is one of the main actors in Lebanese politics.

HOW MUCH DOES ERDOGAN CARE ABOUT THE MASSACRE?

We can understand how much the Erdoğan government cares about the occupation and massacre in Gaza and the Palestinian cause by its attitude towards these imperialist powers that support Israel.

So, what is the policy of the Erdoğan government towards these imperialist powers and their war organisation (NATO), which are the biggest supporters and pillars of the Israeli aggression in this period?

The last year has been a year in which the Erdoğan government, far from taking a stance against the Western imperialist powers that support Israel, has taken new steps to improve its dependency relations with these powers and to be more attached to their axis.

Despite the open support of the USA and NATO for the Israeli aggression, Erdoğan approved the membership of Sweden in NATO in January 2024.

In March, Foreign Minister Fidan and MIT head Kalın made successive visits to the United States. During these visits, negotiations were held with the US on the 'development path' and the security agreements signed with Iraq, in particular with a view to playing a balancing role against Iran in the region.

In May, BOTAŞ and ExxonMobil of the USA, the world's biggest energy monopoly, signed a 10-year contract for the purchase of LNG (liquefied natural gas), fulfilling one of the homework assignments that the USA had given to the Erdoğan government.

In August, at a time when Israel's attacks on Lebanon were increasing and there was a debate about whether these attacks would trigger a regional war, it was revealed that Turkey and the US were organising a joint naval exercise in the eastern Mediterranean, although the Erdoğan government tried to hide this for fear of reactions.

The European Union (EU) rewarded the Erdoğan government for doing its homework by inviting Foreign Minister Fidan to an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels after a five-year hiatus.

Former US Ambassador to Ankara Flake, whose term expired last month, expressed satisfaction that 'Turkey's relations with the West and its partnership with the United States are stronger than ever'.

Since 7 October last year, US Secretary of State Blinken has made ten visits to countries in the region in an attempt to prevent a possible backlash against Israel, but has only visited Turkey on two of these visits. Blinken has bypassed Turkey, ostensibly because of its support for Hamas, but in reality because the Erdogan government has not taken any position that would pose a problem for the US and NATO during this period.

Moreover, before 7 October last year, the Erdoğan government was in the process of 'normalising' its relations with Israel, which had deteriorated due to other regional problems. In this context, Israeli President Herzog came to Turkey in March 2022 and plans were made for Erdoğan's visit to Israel. In other words, the Palestinian issue would not have been an obstacle to the "normalisation" of relations with Israel had it not been for the attacks, occupations and massacres that Israel carried out in Gaza in front of the whole world.

THE WEAK BELLY OF THE GOVERNMENT: THE KURDISH QUESTION

It is also necessary to mention the Kurdish problem as the weak belly of the Erdoğan government. Shortly before the start of the process in Gaza, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had declared that 'all underground and above-ground facilities are now our target' for the Kurdish autonomous administration in Rojava; schools, hospitals, water and electricity facilities, which are vital for hundreds of thousands of people, were bombed. Netanyahu was aware of this, and whenever Erdoğan criticised him, he responded by saying: 'You are the last person to give me a moral lesson'.

In addition to all this, it would be instructive to draw attention to the following point about the position of the Erdoğan government in relation to Israel's attack and occupation of Lebanon. In 2011, when the Erdoğan government took the lead in the policy of intervention in Syria - a policy aimed at breaking the axis of resistance centred on Iran and including forces from Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Yemen - the Lebanese Hezbollah, which is today Israel's target, played a decisive role in the failure of this intervention. The fact that Israel, together with the Erdogan government and the jihadist groups it supported, organised air strikes against Hezbollah forces in Syria at the time was important to show that the Erdogan government and Israel were on the same side in the struggle for regional sovereignty.

In conclusion, the events of the last year in the region in connection with the Palestinian question have once again shown us the real face of the Erdoğan government beyond Hamas: The Erdoğan government, which from time to time tries to use the contradictions between the imperialists for its own interests, plays the game according to the rules of the USA-NATO and Western imperialists in situations like Israel's attack and occupation in Gaza and Lebanon, which leave it no room for manoeuvre!