Erdogan's Humbuggery

Recep Tayyip Erdogan fancies himself the 21st Century leader of the Middle East. The glory that was Turkey's alone under the Ottoman Empire seems to echo the deep-seated frenzy of Islamist jihadists who are determined to return Islam to its golden glory days of the Caliphate with its dominance, power and authority inexorably spreading from the Middle East to Africa and Europe.

Turkey had expressly rejected such empty, purposeless longing for the past which had left it, along with countries of the Middle East as societal and economic backwaters with no forward momentum, mired in tradition and the heritage of an overwhelming theocratic tyranny that straitjacketed progress in science, education, innovation and commerce.

Back to square one for Turkey. It has taken Prime Minister Erdogan nine years to undo what Kemal Ataturk wrought, to haul Turkey out of the Middle Ages and into modernity. But Mr. Erdogan is a determined man and his Justice and Development Party has been busy neutralizing the power and authority previously vested in Turkey's military, and firmly imposing his own Islamist agenda instead.

Finding common cause with Iran, with Syria, with Hezbollah (irredentists all) and with the new Egypt where the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist parties are gaining authority. It was obviously time to continue breaking ties with Israel, the only non-Muslim state in the geography. After having expressed sympathy with Hamas as a legitimate and admirable governing body, Mr. Erdogan is now prepared to visit Gaza.

There he can commiserate with the Palestinians over their plight as an blockaded people, wistfully hoping to be freed from Israeli domination. The facade of furious indignation expressed by Mr. Erdogan over the UN's Palmer Report exonerating Israel's blockade, finding fault with Turkey in not adequately taking measures to halt a blockade-busting flotilla whose lead vessel contained Islamist thugs prepared to wreak havoc, continues Turkey's theatre of the absurd.

Insisting that Israel meekly respond to Turkey's demands for a deeply sincere apology for having the unwarranted effrontery to train its naval commandos to return violence for violence to protect themselves and absolutely refusing to accept in its stead, the more reasonable expression of 'regret' which in and of itself represents an unreasonable accommodation, the drama of cutting ties continues.

With a diminishing of the diplomatic presence, and that of the long-standing military alliance, comes a further suspension of military agreements. Paradoxically, it is to Israel that Turkey has always gone to procure advanced military systems and weaponry, and it is Israel, in the face of Turkey's previous hysterical denunciation of Israel at Davos, during the Gaza Offensive to stave off ongoing rocket attacks from Hamas,which decided not to provide Turkey with the advanced weaponry it demanded.

Israel, Prime Minister Erdogan huffs, is playing the "spoiled child", in not acceding to Ankara's demand for humble apologies and adequately generous reparations. It would simply not be possible to characterize Mr. Erdogan's behaviour as the shrill demands of a spoiled child throwing a world-class tantrum in the wake of the findings of the UN probe into the flotilla raid and the violence aboard the Mavi Marmara.

While Erdogan practises his theatrical humbug, Israel does indeed regret the loss of its past friendship with Turkey. "Over the past few months, there have been numerous attempts to create a positive dynamic in keeping the relationship between Jerusalem and Ankara, but so far, those efforts have not succeeded." Unnamed Israeli official.