Obama Played Well; Turkey Won

In the past week, Barack Obama added two accomplishments to his record — an approved fourth resolution against Iran and the continuation of negotiations between Israel and Palestine, despite what occurred in the blue international waters off the shores of Gaza.

Perhaps the price of success is very high. In both cases, the relations between Washington and Ankara are in danger. Turkey is a strategic ally, one that America cannot easily turn its back on. In both cases, Israel and the U.S. bench-marked their ability to deal with Turkey outside the context of NATO and Europe.

Turkey is closer to the East and the world of Islam than to the West and modernism. For America, Turkey serves as a bridge between the Middle East and Europe. Israel also put all its strength and power to work in order to prevent the destruction of its relationship with Ankara. Ankara has been situated between Israel and the Islamic countries as the main strategic and unconditional ally for Israel. Due to Turkey’s relations with the U.S., it was one of the first countries to recognize Israeli statehood. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cannot even speak a word of Arabic, but is currently the most popular leader in the Arab world. Muslims from East to West consider Erdogan a heroic leader. Following the Israeli attack on its freedom flotilla, Turkey’s esteem in the region soared even higher. At present, Turkey’s situation is quite a contradiction.

A few centuries ago, Turkey distanced itself from the East and moved toward the modern West, an echo of the Ottoman Empire, which fought against the Arabs for 400 years, but then returned to Middle East with open arms. The Justice and Development Party took power in 2002, indicating Turkey’s move toward a more secular society. Turkey’s actions in recent months show that, on the one hand, it seeks membership in the European Union, while on the other hand it embraces its popularity in the Islamic world and follows the East. These days, Erdogan’s defense of Palestine carries greater weight than many Arab leaders.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s determination to keep Tehran safely away from new international sanctions also showed keen mediation in the nuclear case of Iran. Tehran announced last fall that it was opposed to the western fuel exchange plan. At the same time, Washington was determined to approve the fourth round of resolutions against Iran. Meanwhile, the U.S. had the support of Western countries like France, Britain and Germany. Despite initial objections, China and Russia finally joined the Western position. Suddenly Turkey, with help from Brazil, could get Tehran in agreement with the project regarding uranium enrichment activities. However, eventually everyone announced their opposition to a nuclear agreement with Tehran. Finally, the United States, while appreciating the Turks, announced that the UN Security Council had achieved the amount of votes needed to intensify boycotts against Iran.

When voting took place in the Security Council, Turkey and Brazil cast the only negative votes. This move showed the council’s protest of Turkey’s performance and at the macro-level didn’t affect the result of voting. Despite how it seems, Turkey is not ready to cut off the West. Turkey has not turned its back on its Western presence in the form of joining NATO and the European Union. But there is no doubt that discourse in Turkish foreign policy has changed. While the U.S. has made an ally of Turkey since the days of the Cold War, the Turks were against the U.S. attack on Iraq. Up until the 1990s, the relationship between Turkey and Iran had been strained, with Iran always being accused of trying to export and impose Islamic beliefs. However, today Iran is looking for a deeper business relationship with Ankara.

Erdogan is up for re-election next year, and from now on he will play the Muslim card to guarantee his victory.