Erdogan hosts Hamas boss in attempt to mend ties with Israel

Those who follow these matters will be well aware that media have recently been awash with stories about the pending rapprochement between Turkey and the Holy Land.

Yes, time was that Pasha Tayyip and Bibi were, if not besties, at least something right next to it. Then came that unfortunate misunderstanding re: the Mavi Marmara, and the whole best buds thing went down the toilet in a hurry.

Fast forward a few short years, and the Sultan finds himself caught between innumerable rocks and hard places. His NATO betters are on the threshold of giving him the heave-ho, as is a substantial segment of his electorate. The man's skin gets thinner by the day; anyone writing these ruminations in Turkey would be enjoying the hospitality of the state in short order.

But Erdogan is not a man to dwell on the past; he is determined to be remembered as a maker of history, not a victim of history. Now that every Erdogan ally has been stabbed in the back at least once, he is looking to build bridges with those few who have not been stabbed in the back twice. Yet.

Hence all those good news stories about rebuilding the ties with Israel...

And then this.



That's The Sultan mending fences with Hamas boss Khaled Meshaal today. Apparently this is how one mends fences with Israel...

Israel proves it's possible to intercept Gaza flotillas without killing anyone

That news flash just in!

Actually, they've always known how to do that, which just proves that those nine deaths on the Mari Marmara were a calculated message to the would-be blockade busters.

The ecumenical xenophobia of the Turks

There's quite an interesting survey on view at the Hurriyet site today. Done by Pew Research, the survey reveals that the foreign country Turks dislike the most is Israel. I suppose in a 98% Muslim country that remembers the Mavi Marmara, that should not come as a surprise.

So can we therefore conclude that the Turks see themselves aligned with Israel's enemies? Not at all; the foreign country they dislike most after Israel, is Iran, the arch-nemesis of all right-thinking Israelis!

Hmm... but surely they are more closely aligned with their NATO betters in Washington than with the grasping pretenders in the Kremlin.

Nope, wrong again! On the list of people the Turks don't like, Russia and the US are tied for third after Israel and Iran!

You gotta like that about them!

It's all but over for Erdogan

Turkey is yet another chosen nation, chosen alongside Venezuela and Ukraine and so many others as a target for the "democracy promotion" antics of the National Endowment for Democracy.

The NED has invested millions in promoting accountability and strengthening democratic institutions in the country, and the rioting on the occasion of Berkin Alvan's funeral has proved that the money has not been wasted. But Erdogan probably can blame himself as much as outside meddling for his imminent demise.

It was he and he alone who undercut his own stature as a favored bumboy of Washington. First strike was that prissy refusal to allow the US access to Turkish bases in the Iraq war. That's quite something between NATO brothers, and you can believe the US has never forgotten or forgiven.

Then there was the Mavi Marmora incident. Did he really think he'd keep "favored friend" status after that debacle?

Lately he can scarcely keep ahead of the scandals, and now the generals he so gleefully put away are having their verdicts annuled. Thus far they're not having their commissions re-instated, but nevertheless this is a body-blow.

And let's not forget that America has been grooming an even more pliable candidate for Turkey's top job.

The Teflon Turk

Haaretz has this perspective on the wily Erdogan.

Haaretz generally has a liberal/secular take on ME issues. If the linked article is any indication, they too see Erdogan's main challenge coming from the Gulen loyalists in his country.

Turkey-Israel relations have been all over the map since Erdogan came to power. Turkey is a full-patch NATO member, and Israel is "the only democracy in the Middle East", so on an official level one might expect a substantial overlap in interests.

The Mavi Marmara incident was a turning point. Regardless of what one thinks of the illegal and immoral Gaza blockade, any realist will first need to acknowledge that there are plenty of others who view it as legal, moral, and necessary. Turkey's connivance with those who took direct action in attempting to breach the blockade was a classic case of over-reach.

In hindsight, that was the turning point in Erdogan's tenure, and also a turning point in the fortunes of the Muslim Brotherhood. The NATO bigs in Brussels and Washington realized that the NATO chapter in Ankara was no longer on the same page as the rest of the gang.

The Chinese missile deal was the last straw.

That's why you're hearing more these days about the influence of Fethullah Gulen, whose minions are poised to dispose of Erdogan. What then?

The appeal of the Muslim Brotherhood in Washington and Brussels was always that, all things considered, they were more moderate, more pliable, more US/Israel friendly than the alternatives.

The MB star is fading because there is a more moderate, more pliable alternative waiting in the wings.

Unfortunately, for a lot of conservative folks who held their noses and put up with the MB, any option that is even more moderate and pliable will simply be unacceptable.

The Teflon Turk may be on his way out. Whoever comes next will have a very serious problem with the fundamentalists who have taken root next door.

Canada's National Post; a nest of anti-semites?

Look how they take the soft-ball approach to the clear and present danger of children throwing stones at IDF troops in the West Bank.

This article practically oozes empathy for the stone throwers.

Call it Amira Hass syndrome.

And of course the use of the word "attack" with respect to the assault on the Mavi Marmara is beyond the pale.

That's why the Israeli government has apologized for the incident and an Israeli delegation is in Turkey negotiating compensation even as I write this.

And contrary to the claims of Honest Reporting Canada, the maximum sentence for a Palestinian child throwing stones at an IDF soldier is not 15 months in prison.

It's a bullet through the head.

Joining hands in peace... just in time for war

They say Obama's Air Force One was still on the taxi-way enroute to Jordan when Netanyahu picked up the phone and put a call through to Turkey's President Erdogan.

"Hey, so sorry about that Mavi Marmara business," the Israeli PM whispered into the ear of Erdogan, and that's all the Turk PM needed to hear.

"Ah, thank you so much, all is forgiven!"

The pouty Turks had been waiting three years for today's apology. And Middle-East watchers knew it had to come sooner or later.

So while the Oracle of Nairobi didn't accomplish anything in terms of Israel-Palestine peace, he has set the stage for the next phase in the Syrian war.

Look at a map. The Syrian capital is less than fifty miles from the Israeli border. That's about an hour's drive for a column of Merkavas.

And of course Turkey has the northern border.

NATO-member Turkey and NATO step-child Israel have been having that unfortunate internecine spat ever since that unfortunate Mavi Marmara incident.

Looks like Obama was able to patch things up.

All we need now is the "major provocation" that will breach the "red line."