Being Involved

Turkey was once a proudly Muslim nation while presenting as a proudly secular country in its politics. Overt symbols of fundamentalist Islam in dress codes were forbidden by decree of a former military man, Mustafa Kemal who had taken high office in Turkey through a military coup with the intention of modernizing it to reflect what was happening elsewhere in the Western world, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

In honour to Mustafa Kemal, considered the father of modern Turkey, who had advanced the equality of women and helped bring about a modern economy and refurbished contacts with the West, the military of the country traditionally went out of its way to ensure that Islam would continue to take a back seat in the political arena of the country in strict separation of church and state.

That situation prevailed until several decades ago when the Islamist party of the Justice and Development Party first began to make inroads into government. Their head, Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected prime minister and succeeding elections gave more power and prominence to him and his party. Both have succeeded in turning Turkey back from a secular-ruled nation to one where Islamism has been firmly entrenched.

There have been protests against Mr. Erdogan's rule and his party's increased power from Turks unwilling to see their country turned back to theocratic rule. Those protests have met stiff resistance from the government. Turkey's treatment of its Kurdish minority population who have agitated for separation and a land of their own is well enough known. Turkey's application for entrance into the EU has been held up by its poor human rights record.

Turkey is also well known for its oppression of journalists; it has few peers in the world as a nation suppressing freedom of speech and the press. Its detention and arrest of journalists have earned it the title of most-oppressive of nations, among the worst in the world. Prime Minister Erdogan has effectively used the judiciary to emasculate the power and prestige of the Turkish armed forces by charging former and current generals with treason.

This is the man and the party who has broken off warm relations with the State of Israel which had existed for decades under previous, secular governments. And he has sundered those relations despite the fact that the militaries of both countries conducted regular joint exercises, despite that both countries enjoyed a robust trade with one another, despite that Turkey gained through tourism with its friendship with Israel.

Under the Freedom and Justice Party and Erdogan, warm overtures were made to Iran, to Syria, to Hezbollah and Hamas, all of whom have gained the approval of Erdogan until recently when he began criticizing the slaughter of Sunni Syrians by Syria's Alawite regime. Mr. Erdogan had made friendly overtures to the Muslim Brotherhood while they governed in Egypt, for their motto, "Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Koran is our law", appealed tremendously to his own faith.

Now that the Muslim Brotherhood has fallen into disfavour and removed from office in Egypt, Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Israel of having fomented the entire upheaval with the overthrow of former President Mohammed Morsi. "Israel is behind the coup in Egypt, we have evidence" he stated before members of his party in Ankara.

This is the man who encouraged Turkish fundamentalists to set out in a flotilla to break Israel's naval blockade of the Gaze Strip, then accused it of murder when its thugs attacked Israeli sailors.

"He supports the Muslim Brotherhood so fervently and so ardently and so faithfully that he cannot conceive of the possibility of good Muslims and good Arabs overthrowing a Muslim Brotherhood president. It has to be Israel. Many leaders lie to the public, but this one lies to himself", said an Israeli diplomatic official anonymously.

For Israel has no interest in becoming unduly involved in Arab/Muslim affairs.