Abbas's visit to Ankara last week makes it clear Turkey sees itself as a regional powerbroker, says Gareth Jenkins During his two-day stay in the Turkish capital, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with a string of high-ranking Turkish officials, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul. On Saturday, in a joint press conference with Abbas, Gul publicly called on Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) to reach an agreement with Hamas. "The priority is to form a government of consensus in Palestine. This is a day for being in unity without blaming each other," said Gul. Gul's call for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas came after Erdogan's ferocious condemnation of Israel's brutal military offensive in Gaza and his outspoken support for Hamas culminated in his storming out of the World Economic Summit in Davos on 29 January. The moderator of a discussion panel had cut him short as he attempted to rebut Israeli President Shimon Peres, who defended the massacre in Gaza. During his numerous attacks on Israel for its assault on Gaza, Erdogan has frequently criticised Abbas and Fatah, whom he accused of being too conciliatory towards the Israelis. Although Erdogan's outburst at Davos endeared him to both the Turks and the rest of the Muslim world, the coarseness of his language -- which was softened by the official translation at Davos into English -- horrified the Turkish foreign policy elite. It also appalled many Turkish diplomats, who had been hoping that, through cordial relations with both Israel and the Arab states, Ankara might be able to broker a lasting peace agreement in the Middle East. Erdogan's condemnation of Fatah has prompted accusations that he was not only jettisoning Turkey's hopes of serving as a regional peacebroker, but interfering in internal Palestinian politics. Erdogan's outspoken rhetoric also put the Turkish military in a difficult position. Although many members of the officer corps were undoubtedly dismayed by Israel's willingness to target Palestinian civilians, few members of the rigorously secularist Turkish military have much sympathy for Hamas's Islamist agenda. The Turkish military has also traditionally enjoyed a close relationship with the Israelis in military training and in the defence industry. For example, the Turkish General Staff (TGS) has made no secret of the important contribution it believes the delivery of Israeli Heron unmanned aerial vehicles will make to its war against the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). As a result, the TGS declined to issue any public statements about Erdogan's outburst at Davos and has not even condemned Israel's military offensive against Gaza. Erdogan has repeatedly characterised his attacks on Israel as being prompted by "a humanitarian conscience". However, his speech to cheering party supporters who had gathered at the airport to welcome him back from Davos in the early hours of 30 January left no doubt that he was at least partly motivated by the desire to promote Turkey rather than merely help the Palestinians. "We stood tall and shall continue to stand tall," declared Erdogan. "The children of this nation are racing towards the great, powerful Turkey that we have missed and long for once again. And we shall achieve this very soon." No one listening to Erdogan would have had any doubt that the past greatness to which he was referring was the Ottoman Empire. Erdogan and many of the other members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (JDP) are unabashed Ottoman nostalgists. Although few would advocate resurrecting a territorial empire, most tend to regard the Middle East as modern Turkey's natural sphere of influence. In his public statements during his visit to Turkey, Abbas politely rejected the suggestion that the PLO should unite with Hamas. He pointedly noted that the PLO was already engaged in discussions with Hamas to try to resolve their differences; but under Egyptian, not Turkish, auspices. "Hamas is a part of the Palestinian nation," said Abbas. "We shall sit at the table together with them. We are already sitting in Cairo. Hopefully, there will be a peace." It remains unclear whether Erdogan and the JDP can reconcile their ambitions of regional pre-eminence with the impartiality required to make a substantive contribution to the Middle East peace process. However, Erdogan's overt support for Hamas -- and his condemnation of the EU and US for refusing to engage with it in direct negotiations on the grounds that it is classified as a terrorist organisation -- has also raised questions about the JDP's policy closer to home. In defending Hamas's right to be treated as a legitimate interlocutor, Erdogan repeatedly cited the fact that it came to power in Gaza through elections. Yet Erdogan has consistently refused to talk with the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DSP), which won 22 seats in the last Turkish general election, on the grounds that it has refused to condemn the PKK as a terrorist organisation. Erdogan has also yet to comment on the conviction last Thursday of Aysel Tugluk, a DSP member of the Turkish parliament, who was sentenced to 18 months in jail merely for commenting that some people regard imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan as a hero.
