The century-old 'State Wisdom' that collapsed in two weeks

On the fifth day of the Palestine-Israel war, which began with Hamas's attack on October 7, Erdoğan stood at an equal distance from both sides, stating: "Taking sides blindly between the parties only serves to deepen the ongoing crisis. For this reason, as Turkey, we invite the parties to exercise restraint."

About a week later, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan brought the "guarantor formula" to the agenda.

Speaking of "guarantorship"; we have been a guarantor in Cyprus since 1969 under the London-Zurich Agreements. But look at what is happening; following the Palestine-Israel war, German soldiers arrived in the Greek Cypriot administration.

TRNC President Ersin Tatar cried out, "The arrival of foreign military forces on the Island without the permission and approval of Turkey, which is a guarantor of the Republic of Cyprus, and us, its partner, is contrary to international agreements... Turkey must absolutely be informed of every military development throughout Cyprus." He did not stop there, warning, "They should not drag Cyprus, which is in a nearby geography, into such a tragedy."

Did a voice emerge from Ankara?

We are supposedly also guarantors in the Russia-Ukraine war. Other than grain transportation, what have we been able to do? Were we able to oppose the expansion of NATO, which is pouring gasoline on the war?

And doesn't our guarantorship regarding Al-Nusra in Idlib, Syria, ease the hands of the US and other imperialists who are guarantors for the PKK/YPG?

SHAKING NETANYAHU'S HAND

As is known; although there was not a millimeter of change in the Promised Land and Palestine projects of Israel and its patrons, Turkey-Israel relations were normalizing at full speed until the last war. When Erdoğan met with Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly meeting in September, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced that "ties between the two countries are strengthening," stating that "the two leaders mutually invited each other to their countries" and that "these visits would take place in a coordinated manner in the near future."

Erdoğan also stated that he thought Netanyahu's visit to Turkey, which was postponed due to illness, would take place around October-November, adding, "After that, we will make our return visit."

So, what did Erdoğan say about this at the AKP Group Meeting last week?

After emphasizing that he had "shaken Netanyahu's hand only once in his life, at the Turkish House in the US," he said: "We had good intentions, but he abused our good intentions. We had a project to go to Israel; it is canceled, we will not go."

Wait, wasn't Netanyahu supposed to come first?!

ONE WAY IN BRUSSELS, ANOTHER IN ANKARA

Let us continue with sections from Erdoğan's group speech.

Erdoğan, who drew attention to the wrongness of "taking sides blindly" in the first days of the war, spoke as follows two weeks later:

"The entire West sees Hamas as a terrorist organization. Oh Israel, you might be an organization. Because this West owes you a lot, but Turkey does not owe you anything. Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but a liberation and mujahideen group struggling to protect its lands and citizens."

But let us recall what happened at the NATO Defense Ministers meeting held in Brussels on October 11-12, where our country was represented by Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant connected to this meeting via video conference and engaged in Israeli propaganda.

More importantly; NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that "they condemned the attack by the terrorist organization Hamas on behalf of all allies." It was emphasized that Turkey did not object to this statement.

At that time, we asked the question, "If this is true, does this stance not mean that Turkey also officially calls Hamas a 'terrorist organization'?"; however, no one made a sound.

It seems that; it is one way in Brussels and NATO, and another in Ankara!..

SOLUTIONS FOUND BY 'STATE WISDOM', NOT 'RHETORIC'

Another section from Erdoğan's speech:

He explained that "those who caused the deaths of 2 million people in Iraq and 1 million each in Afghanistan and Syria over the last quarter-century based on entirely false excuses and the pawn organizations they established, are the same countries that are trying to silence university students, academics, journalists, artists, athletes, and business people who make statements in favor of the oppressed Palestinian people in their own countries through threats and even blackmail."

While these things are happening, is there any need to state which administration is in power in Turkey and which front it is on?

While underlining that they "will not resort to empty rhetoric, steps that will not benefit the people of Turkey and Palestine, or moves without strategy," Erdoğan noted the following:

"Because we are the Republic of Turkey, which has a thousands-year-old state tradition and state wisdom behind it... As a state and a nation, we are obligated to do what we say, to finish what we start, and to reach what we target. Otherwise, we would be no different from many states and many communities that are of no benefit to themselves, the nation, the ummah, or humanity. We are shaping the policy we are conducting against Israel's attacks on Gaza with this understanding, and we are implementing it with great meticulousness."

Continuing, he criticized those who give unlimited support to Israel, saying, "We must now tear off the straitjacket forced upon us by acting with common sense and foresight. Otherwise, we will all continue to pay the price with our lives, our blood, our resources, and our future," and then listed what Turkey could do.

These were; the proposal to "be one of the guarantors of the Palestinian side," and the other was "ensuring the highest participation in the 'Great Palestine Rally' organized by the People's Alliance in Istanbul the previous day."

Furthermore, he asked the "Organization of Islamic Cooperation, whose founding purpose is to defend the sanctity of Jerusalem and the Palestinian cause, to at least this time put forward an activity worthy of its mission." But a day later, he had to call the Pope and ask for his help as well.

HOW MANY MORE CHILDREN MUST DIE FOR THE BASES TO BE CLOSED?

At the 8th Family Council on Thursday, Erdoğan's agenda was also Palestine. Criticizing the EU, the UN Security Council, and all Western countries for failing to take action, he asked, "How many more people must die? How many children must die?" Then, stating that Turkey would not hesitate to shout for justice and truth even if it remained alone, he said:

"No one can expect us to remain silent while an atrocity is being committed before our eyes. Even if we were to tie our tongues, our conscience would not allow us to remain silent in the face of such brutality... You know those in the West who do not speak up; they are the ones who are indebted to Israel, indebted... But Turkey does not owe Israel anything. That is why we are comfortable, that is why we are strong. We will continue to shout for justice in the same way from now on."

The day after this speech by Erdoğan, the headlines of two news stories on the front page of Yeni Şafak, which supports the government, were of a nature that inadvertently rubbed in the fact that Turkey was doing nothing but rhetoric.

In the first, there was Erdoğan's question, "How many more children must die for a ceasefire?", and in the second, the headline "Embargo stops genocide".

So, what does that mean? That "embargoes" could stop Israel and its patrons.

Let us not be too unfair. Ankara dealt a "heavy blow" to Israel. What did it do?

It stopped "plans for joint energy exploration in the Mediterranean with Israel and gas exports to Europe." For this purpose, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, who was going to go to Israel, also canceled his program!..

Furthermore, Erdoğan made two new openings at the Palestine rally. He announced that we are "standing up" for Gaza and that they are preparing to declare Israel a "war criminal."

However, are there not other things we could do before all of this? Or let us ask it this way:

"How many more children need to die for Incirlik and Kürecik to be closed?"

Go ahead; it was claimed that British warplanes took off from Incirlik when Israel attacked Gaza once again the night before last. The Presidential Communications Directorate denied this.

The planes might not have taken off from Incirlik that day. But what is the guarantee that they will not take off from now on? Can Ankara say, "Never, and we will close them if necessary"?!