There is always a special place for Turkiye’s diplomatic initiatives in Palestine

More than 200 days have passed since Israel began its attacks on Gaza. Several rounds of ceasefire talks have not yet produced any concrete results, and it does not look like they will produce any positive results in the short term. Presently, it seems that Israel has not given up on attacking Rafah, which it defines as the last stronghold of Hamas. Because of the seriousness of the threat, countries in the region, including Turkiye, are stepping up their diplomatic efforts to prevent the assault and end the war.

Turkiye, in particular, has been coming under increasing pressure from the international community to play a greater role, similar to its mediating efforts between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as Russia and Ukraine. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s visit to Doha and his reception of Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukri, in Istanbul and the meeting of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hamas Political Bureau leader, İsmail Haniyeh at the Dolmabahce Palace Working Office were the most important recent steps in this direction. Although each of the meetings in question had an independent agenda that was different from the others, it can be said that they were part of a single whole.

READ: Turkiye to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at ICJ

As mediators, Egypt and Qatar have, on their part, acted in all the ceasefire initiatives in the process that has continued since 7 October. Egypt, one of the central actors of the Arab world, was the place where indirect negotiations and subsequent ceasefire agreements took place in the previous wars of 2008-2009, 2012 and 2014.

Qatar, on the other hand, is an important partner of the Palestinian side because it hosts the Hamas Political Bureau and provides large-scale financing to Gaza. In addition, it plays a major diplomatic role in the Palestine-Israel conflict due to its political and economic relations with the United States (USA) and Western countries.

Although Turkiye, which has intensified its contacts with both countries, is not expected to replace Qatar and Egypt in their mediator positions, it seems possible that it will join the two countries in this undertaking and that a tripartite mediation mechanism will be established in the coming period. While being a member of NATO and the OIC, Turkiye is uniquely positioned to undertake diplomatic initiatives in conflict resolution.

This week’s announcement by Turkiye that it will be supporting the case filed by South Africa in the International Court of Justice alleging that Israel committed genocide in Gaza is perhaps the clearest sign that Ankara wants to demonstrate its absolute commitment to Palestinian national and human rights. The announcement was made By Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, following his meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, in Ankara.

Earlier, during the Gaza summit held in Riyadh, Minister Fidan called on the Arab states, especially the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the countries that recognise Palestine as a State to adopt a more assertive stance on the Palestine issue.

Haniyeh and Erdogan meeting

Other signs that Turkiye is raising the stakes came last week with the meeting between President Erdogan and Hamas’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh. The significance of this meeting should not be minimised. Although it was held behind closed doors, the messages given afterwards give important clues about the shift in gear by Turkiye.

The first issue that stood out during the meeting was the continuation of humanitarian aid provided to Gaza. It was underlined that Turkiye, which is currently among the countries delivering the most humanitarian aid to Gaza, will continue this mission despite the obstacles and difficulties. It was seen that, under the influence of public sensitivities, Turkiye’s trade restriction decision against Israel was welcomed by the Palestinian side.

Another main issue in the talks was ensuring the political unity of the Palestinians. Turkiye, which has close relations with both the official Palestinian Administration led by Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas, supports ending the internal political division that has been influential in Palestinian politics for 17 years and produces results against the Palestinians.

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Lastly, Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, called on the Group of 20 leaders to “take an initiative in realising a two-state solution” to resolve the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.

It should not be overlooked that some Palestinian political actors, notably Hamas, do not favour the two-state solution because it means giving up most of historical Palestine. Yet, on this issue specifically, it is not clear whether Turkiye has requested Hamas to formally consent to the two-state solution.

Universities’ support in Turkiye

Relatedly, Turkiye’s diplomatic efforts for Palestinians rights strongly affect the social intellectual environment in the country. Many universities in Turkiye supported the Gaza protests of university students in the USA with a statement published on their social media accounts. Last Friday, Fırat University students also announced their support for the Gaza protests in 3 languages ​​at the press conference they held. As Zygmun Bauman highlighted in his masterpiece ‘Liquid Times’, people are globally affecting each other for every social phenomenon. This is the positive side of globalisation. If there is any radical injustice anywhere, people can react homogenously and emphatically. If ever there was an opportune time for Turkiye to live up to its historical responsibility, it is now. Palestine and the Palestinian people need the best that Turkish diplomacy can offer today and not yesterday.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.