Gaza On My Mind

Issue #184

As Ray Charles put it: Gaza, Gaza. The whole day through. Just an old bleak song keeps Gaza on my mind.

In this week’s recap:

• Why the AKP appears absent from Gaza protests

• Clashes and calculations in domestic politics

• Missing: Sweden’s NATO bid on the parliamentary agenda

• Turkey’s lira is plunging (again)

• Börekthroughs in crime fighting technology

Plus, we’re excited to welcome our second new intern, Onur Hasip, who along with our first new intern, Sema Beşevli, contributed to Diego Cupolo’s report this week on Hamas presence in Turkey.

İHH protest after Friday prayers at İstanbul’s Beyazit Mosque. © Ingrid Woudwijk

As Israeli airstrikes kill more Palestinians in Gaza with each passing day, the anger in Turkey is growing amid more protests and three days of national mourning.

Throughout, Pres. Erdoğan has been uncharacteristically quiet as FM Hakan Fidan has been touring the region to discuss hostage releases – though a senior Turkish official told Politico “any mediation role at this point is a mission impossible.”

The Foreign Ministry Friday condemned the collective punishment of Gaza residents. “We expect Israel to … put an end to brutal and indiscriminate actions,” its statement read. 

Over the weekend, Fidan visited Egypt, held a phone call with Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh Monday and visited Lebanon Tuesday.

Then, Tuesday evening a hospital in Gaza was bombed, killing many civilians. Ankara swiftly and squarely put the blame on Israel, as did many governments in the Middle East. Israeli forces later claimed it was a misfired rocket from Palestinian militants. 

Erdogan said that night, the event was “the latest example of an Israeli attack devoid of the basic human values.” A day later he added, “I condemn the perpetrators of this attack, which constitutes a crime against humanity and amounts to genocide against the people of Gaza,” without further defining the perpetrators. 

Also Tuesday evening, Israel called for its citizens to leave Turkey as thousands protested that evening at the Israeli consulate in İstanbul, the US base in Malatya and İncirlik base in Adana.

Since the Oct. 7 attacks, conservative Islamist groups have held prayers and demonstrations, chanting pro-Hamas slogans and calls to send Turkish soldiers to Gaza. Some attendees denied Hamas militants conducted acts of terrorism against civilians in Israel, as witnessed by Turkey recap.

Notably, the AKP has been largely absent from those protests, apart from some individual politicians. Berk Esen, an assoc. prof. of political science at Sabancı University, links the absence to the ongoing economic crisis, and Erdoğan’s aims to improve ties with Egypt, Jordan, the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia.

“Of course, he's going to condemn Israel. Of course, he's not going to stand by the ongoing violence against the Palestinians in the region, but he's not necessarily going to take a front seat,” Esen told Turkey recap.

One AKP-linked group actively organizing protests is İHH, an Islamist NGO. But Esen said the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, when Israel raided an İHH ship bound for Gaza, placed distance between Erdoğan and the group, adding “I think that policy is not going to change.”

This has made room for the smaller Islamist opposition parties to organize protests, like Saadet and the linked youth organization, Anadolu Gençlik Derneği (AGD). 

“They are really leading these efforts, because for them this is a good issue to galvanize Islamic public opinion in the country and weaken Erdoğan … they've been humiliated in the recent election, and so they're really looking for a way out,” Esen said. 

Pro-Palestine sentiments are widespread in society, media and politics, both left and right, with İYİ head Akşener saying Israeli PM Netanyahu is “the 21st century's Hitler” Wednesday. That night, diverse groups organized protests at the Israeli consulate in İstanbul, where leftists, women’s groups, Kurds and Islamists all shouted their own slogans. 

Going forward, Esen expects Ankara will first try to see if it can negotiate with both Israeli and Palestinian officials.

“If that doesn't work, and Israel continues its attacks, the West remains divided and these Islamist protests continue, we may see Erdogan take up a more direct [and] strong position on this issue,” he said. 

– Ingrid Woudwijk