Yotam Jacobson: Have We Lost Turkey?
[The writer is a tour guide and a regular contributor to travel magazines.]
It has been more than two weeks since we have been engaged in a media and public outcry in the aftermath of the flotilla incident and Turkey’s reaction to it. The notion that the Turks should be punished, either by means of denying them the commerce from Israeli tourism, or by a diplomatic offensive, such as reminding the world about their crimes against the Armenians during World War I, is heard more frequently. As a travel guide, I visit Turkey very often. Today, encouraging Israeli tourism to Turkey may be met with the accusation of not being in touch with reality, or in extreme cases, of encouraging something anti-Israeli.
The Israeli media is waving flags of hatred: Turkey is a Muslim country; Islam intoxicates its followers with fanaticism, aggression and passion of hatred towards Israel. They should be hit hard, they insist, because that is the only language they understand. But I cannot help but wonder – who does this fueled hatred serve? What motivates people to suddenly be caught in a passionate craving for revenge towards the Turks who suddenly “hate us?”
My encounters with many Turks, even in recent times, in various airports, confirmed clearly to me that most Turks do not know they need to hate us, and they would not stand behind the words of some of their politicians.
Modern Turkey is in a position that requires quite a bit of maneuvering. The West’s attitude towards it is characterized by duplicity, and arouses wonder and indignation. On the one hand Turkey has done something that is unmatched in the Muslim world: Since the days of Ataturk, there has been a separation between religion and state, and the Turkish Republic has been a secular state since 1923.
The West, Israel included, enjoys having Turkey as a close ally, as well as a member of NATO. It is a good base of operations for activity in Iraq, its vast territories are seen as a blessing for Israeli Air Force training and the country’s fertile market is inviting to entrepreneurs.
For decades, Turkey has taken impressive steps to get closer to the West, and strived to join the EU. Among Arab countries, Turkey’s attraction to the West generated a wave of hatred and anger at what they perceiped as a betrayal. The Western world, in turn, remained aloof and withdrawn from Turkey. Time after time, the EU refrained from adopting Turkey on various pretexts. First it was required to admit its guilt in the massacre of the Armenian people athe beginning of the 20th Century, then it was required to handle the Kurdish rebellions gently and hopefully by then, maybe, it would win its place as a second-rate among equals in the EU.
The Turkish people see their nation as one being squeezed by opposing forces, being pushed in all directions in the international arena. What wonder is it then, that given the West’s constant disapproval and the strengthening of radical Islam among the weak and poor classes, that certain entities would try to rise up and try to “return” Turkey’s former glory and regain its place as the flagship among the Arab countries...
Read entire article at Jerusalem Post
It has been more than two weeks since we have been engaged in a media and public outcry in the aftermath of the flotilla incident and Turkey’s reaction to it. The notion that the Turks should be punished, either by means of denying them the commerce from Israeli tourism, or by a diplomatic offensive, such as reminding the world about their crimes against the Armenians during World War I, is heard more frequently. As a travel guide, I visit Turkey very often. Today, encouraging Israeli tourism to Turkey may be met with the accusation of not being in touch with reality, or in extreme cases, of encouraging something anti-Israeli.
The Israeli media is waving flags of hatred: Turkey is a Muslim country; Islam intoxicates its followers with fanaticism, aggression and passion of hatred towards Israel. They should be hit hard, they insist, because that is the only language they understand. But I cannot help but wonder – who does this fueled hatred serve? What motivates people to suddenly be caught in a passionate craving for revenge towards the Turks who suddenly “hate us?”
My encounters with many Turks, even in recent times, in various airports, confirmed clearly to me that most Turks do not know they need to hate us, and they would not stand behind the words of some of their politicians.
Modern Turkey is in a position that requires quite a bit of maneuvering. The West’s attitude towards it is characterized by duplicity, and arouses wonder and indignation. On the one hand Turkey has done something that is unmatched in the Muslim world: Since the days of Ataturk, there has been a separation between religion and state, and the Turkish Republic has been a secular state since 1923.
The West, Israel included, enjoys having Turkey as a close ally, as well as a member of NATO. It is a good base of operations for activity in Iraq, its vast territories are seen as a blessing for Israeli Air Force training and the country’s fertile market is inviting to entrepreneurs.
For decades, Turkey has taken impressive steps to get closer to the West, and strived to join the EU. Among Arab countries, Turkey’s attraction to the West generated a wave of hatred and anger at what they perceiped as a betrayal. The Western world, in turn, remained aloof and withdrawn from Turkey. Time after time, the EU refrained from adopting Turkey on various pretexts. First it was required to admit its guilt in the massacre of the Armenian people athe beginning of the 20th Century, then it was required to handle the Kurdish rebellions gently and hopefully by then, maybe, it would win its place as a second-rate among equals in the EU.
The Turkish people see their nation as one being squeezed by opposing forces, being pushed in all directions in the international arena. What wonder is it then, that given the West’s constant disapproval and the strengthening of radical Islam among the weak and poor classes, that certain entities would try to rise up and try to “return” Turkey’s former glory and regain its place as the flagship among the Arab countries...