COMMENT: Baptism of blood and seawater —Amjad Ayub Mirza

The roots of Turkey’s non-admittance to the European Union seem to lie in the bias that Christian-dominated Europe has against Muslim-dominated countries entering the European elite business club. By ignoring Turkey’s application to join the EU, the former has been forced to look elsewhere for economic and strategic alliances

All the hard work of the 19th century British secret service agent T. E. Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia, regarding the break-up of the Ottoman Empire and pitching the Arab tribes against the Turks, seems doomed by the acts of Israeli state terrorism on May 31, 2010, when it attacked the peace aid flotilla sailing to the port of Gaza and killed nine Turkish peace activists.

Yet, Turkey has kept its restraint. It has shown admirable courage in taking the lead to break the global silence over the Gaza blockade by practically sending tens of thousands of material in aid. This is not the first time that Turkey has stood the test. On a previous occasion at Davos, the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked out of a televised panel discussion in protest against the media bias, and described the Israelis as those who “know how to kill”.

The international community has joined Turkey in its demand for a UN-led investigation into the killing of nine Turkish peace activists by Israeli paratroopers. Any delay in setting up a UN investigation team will only hasten Turkey’s eastward realignment. Turkey’s vote against the UN Security Council sanctions on Iran for its nuclear fuel swap deal with Turkey and Brazil — that was brokered by Ankara — is seen as a shift in that direction.

Recently, US secretary of Defence Robert Gates has accused Europe of “pushing Turkey away” by not addressing its ambitions to join the European Union in an apt manner. To degrade Turkey’s protest on the Gaza blockade and its demand for a UN investigation team to be set up, by suggesting that Turkey’s reaction is a vengeful act, is totally absurd. The West needs Turkey more than it needs them. They need Turkey for NATO bases to carry on their war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The roots of Turkey’s non-admittance to the European Union also seem to lie in the bias of Christian-dominated Europe against Muslim-dominated countries entering the European elite business club. The ignoring of Turkey’s application to join the EU has forced it to look elsewhere for economic and strategic alliances.

One such manifestation was at the Turkish-Arab Summit held on June 10, 2010 in Istanbul. The frantic applause with which the Turkish prime minister was greeted as he walked to the podium was a clear signal to the ‘democratic’ world about where Arab sentiments now lie. The summit was attended by 15 Arab foreign ministers as well as the Lebanese President Saad Hariri. During the summit, Israel was unanimously referred to as “criminal and barbaric”. Even Egypt, who along with Israel has closed its border on Gaza, has demanded an apology from Israel and has relaxed, slightly, the border crossing at Rafah. The summit ended with a call to the world to aid the Palestinians, and to send its top envoy Amr Moussa to visit Gaza, where he was greeted with smiles by the leaders of Hamas who have ruled Gaza since their election victory in 2006.

Israel’s siege of Gaza has helped Hamas consolidate its rule in the territory. It has successfully developed an infrastructure to counter the blockade with tunnels running through to Egypt from where goods are swiftly smuggled into the besieged territory, thus undermining the whole purpose of the blockade.

Breaking the blockade will also break the hegemony that Hamas has over the trade and commerce of the besieged city. And Turkey is indirectly trying to help the world community achieve exactly that.

After 90 years of western manipulation to keep the Arabs away from Turkey, much to the dismay of the West, the Arabs have rediscovered a friend in a new Turkey. Modern Turkey is the only working democracy in the Muslim world, which is quite different from its 18th century theological enterprise. Israel has, perhaps, helped Turkey to be born again with the baptism of blood and seawater: a country the Muslim world can look up to, again. A prospect that would make the architect of today’s divided Middle East, Winston Churchill, turn in his grave.

Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza is a social activist working in London. He can be reached at dr_amjad_mirza@hotmail.com