Israel ‘must end occupation’ Turkey always ready to support peace process, Erdogan says after talks with Abbas
ANKARA: Resolving the Palestinian conflict would benefit Israel as well as the Palestinians, and Israel should end its occupation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
“Turkey is always ready to support efforts to revive the peace process. The key to success here is protecting the rights of the Palestinians,” Erdogan said, adding that Ankara would continue its efforts in international forums for the recognition of Palestine.
The president was speaking at a joint news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit to Ankara. The visit followed talks in Ramallah last week between Abbas and Jared Kushner, US president Donald Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, and Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s Middle East peace envoy.
In their talks on Monday, Erdogan and Abbas discussed recent developments in Jerusalem and at Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as the US-led revival of the peace process, which has been at a standstill since the spring of 2014 when US mediation failed.
Salih Bicakci, a professor at Kadir Has University in Istanbul who specializes in Middle Eastern politics, said that at the moment Turkey had lost its capacity to serve as a peace broker in the process.
“Especially, the Mavi Marmara incident heavily damaged the trust between parties,” he said. Ten Turkish activists were killed when Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza, in 2010.
Nevertheless, Bicakci said, Turkey still had remarkable opportunities to assist the peace process in different sectors, such as investment, education and cultural relations.
“If Turkey frankly tries to elevate the life quality of Palestinians by focusing on these issues, soon it will be effective in the peace process again.”
Trust in Israel was still an issue, he said. “Even though Israel’s apology and agreement initiated a detente period, this does not mean all parties have returned to their previous level of relations. “There is still mutual lack of trust between the parties. Turkey most probably would like to talk on behalf of Palestinian issues. But I am not sure how many of these points would be considered by Israel, most probably none of them.”
Bicakci said may factors had to be taken into consideration, including the erosion of Abbas’ authority in recent months as seen during power cuts in Gaza, which fueled discussions over the leadership of the Palestinian Authority.
“On the other hand, Hamas was and is still suffering deep financial problems. Turkey would try to help Hamas to change the conditions in Gaza,” he said.
Pinar Akpinar, scholar at the Conflict Resolution and Mediation Stream of the Istanbul Policy Center, said Abbas’s visit to Ankara may offer a window of opportunity for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks under Turkey’s auspices as a mediator.
“Although there is no official request for such a role both from the Palestinians or from Israel, Turkey could still utilize this opening to its advantage,” she said. “Turkey has been able to craft itself an image as a mediator in the region by mediating between Iran and the West, Syria and Israel, Hamas and Al-Fateh, and a number of hostage crises.”
Given Donald Trump’s increasing leverage over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because of his declining power, and Hamas’ compromises earlier this year, the time may be ripe for a return to the table, she said.
But she said any Turkish mediation would have to be in coordination with the US to achieve sustainable results.
“History proves that US leverage is necessary to sign a peace accord in the region. This is understandable since the US is the only actor that can offer security reassurance to the parties and can twist Israel’s arm,” she said.
“This could also be an opportunity for Turkey to improve its strained relations with the US and its overall image as a regional actor by underlining mediation as a tool of its soft power.”