Turkey's Arab appeal surges after Israel's raid

[FarCenter]

Turkey's tough response to Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla has cemented its popularity among Arabs, frustrated with their governments' inability to face up to Israel, analysts say.

Demonstrators in most Arab cities, who rushed to the streets this week to protest the deadly attack, carried Turkish flags while posters of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan flew high.

"The growing involvement of Turkey and its engagement in favor of the Palestinians, as well as the uncompromising positions of Erdoğan, have led the Arab street to consider him like a new (Gamal Abdel) Nasser," said Michel Nawfal, referring to the late Egyptian president and pan-Arab legend. "Turkey is no longer considered the Trojan horse of the West in the region," said Nawfal, who authored a book titled "The Return of Turkey to the Orient."

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Analyst Abdul Wahab Badrakhan said, "Turkey's policies in the region represent now a lifeline for the Arab street, as opposed to the weakness of Arab regimes with regard to Israel." "Turkey came to fill an important gap, because the role of Egypt (in confronting Israel) does not exist, while that of Saudi Arabia is limited and Syria cannot act on its own," he said referring to the three Arab heavyweights.

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Abdul Bari Attwan, editor-in-chief of London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi daily, agreed that Turkey is more acceptable than Iran "because the Turks are Sunnis and are not in direct confrontation with the West like Iran," which has locked horns with the international community over its nuclear program. "Turkey has realized that the Palestinian issue is the best gateway to play an important role in the Arab world," he said.

Turkey presents to Muslim Arabs, who are "tired of being branded as terrorists, an economic and democratic model of moderate Islam," he said. "For the first time, Arabs put aside their (Arab) nationalism in favor of pan-Islamism," he added.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkeys-arab-appeal-surges-after-israels-raid-2010-06-03

[hack89]

1. The Turkish military is not going to be happy with this

the last thing they want is for Turkey to embrace pan-Islamism - they view themselves as the guardians of Turkey's secular tradition. The Turkish government had better keep a close close watch over it's shoulder.

[FarCenter]

2. The Turkish military wants a solution to the Kurdish insurgency

And Israel has been aiding the Kurds in northern Iraq, among which are the anti-Iranian PJAK and the anti-Turkish PKK.

[mainer]

3. So sad. I always found Turks generally friendly to Jews

There's a long history in Turkey of relative tolerance toward Jewish visitors. In fact, one of the most popular hiking areas in Turkey is a favorite of Israeli tourists. Now everything has changed, thanks to Israel's rash actions.

If this sends Turkey turning towards Islamic fundamentalism, it's a prime example of how force is not the way to win hearts and minds.

[David__77]

5. This has nothing to do with racism or fundamentalism.

Turkish rulers in general and the Justice and Development Party in particular are not anti-Semitic or fundamentalist. Raising this issue is a distraction. This is legitimate foreign policy question.

Turkey must defend its rights just as every sovereign state must.

[David__77]

6. In fact, AKP is somewhat good on ecumenism..

See this... http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-204959-deep-state-did-great-injustice-to-non-muslim-minorities-says-celik.html

[mainer]

8. I completely agree. Turkey has a right to defend itself.

I've always loved visiting Turkey, where multiple religions seem to mingle without too much rancor. They do have a blind spot about the Armenian massacre, but they really do manage to successfully bridge the gap between Europe and the Middle East.

[FarCenter]

7. They still are -- it is the Israeli government that they have a problem with

Gaza assault jeopardizes Turkish tourism, defense deals

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“This year, there were reservations and Israelis were coming. Turkey is a country that offers safe travel and holiday for Israel, near the Middle East. This won’t change. It will be the same after the Israeli people oust that intolerant government ,” he said.

Günay put the number of first cancellations at “between 10,000 and 20,000.”

However, Başaran Ulusoy, chief of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, said “a minimum of 70,000-80,000 tourists from Israel will be lost.”

“Turkey is the United Nations of international tourism,” Vatan newspaper quoted him as saying on Tuesday. “The safety of the lives of Israeli tourists is under the guarantee of the Turkish Republic. Everybody should continue their holidays without fear.”

Cruises changing course

Vatan reported Tuesday that cruises carrying Israeli tourists to destinations such as Alanya and Marmaris have changed course in the aftermath of the Israeli assault and are now heading toward Cyprus or Rhodes. The Mirage-1, which was carrying 420 Israeli tourists to Alanya, has changed course to Rhodes, while a total of 50,000 reservations have been canceled in Bodrum and Marmaris, the newspaper said.

Speaking to Vatan, Sururi Çorabatır, head of the Mediterranean Tourist Hoteliers Association, said another cruise carrying 850 tourists to Alanya is now heading toward Greek Cyprus.

The cancellations came after the Israeli Foreign Ministry advised its citizens not to travel to Turkey.

<SNIP>http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=gaza-assault-puts-tourism-defense-deals-in-jeopardy-2010-06-01

[mainer]

9. Geez, the Israelis kill Turks, and now Israel rants about unsafe Turkey?!!!

Turkey is one of the safest places in the world to travel.

[FarCenter]

10. It is not about safety, it is about the Israeli Foreign Ministry trying to use economic pressure

on Turkey to make them more compliant to Israel's position.

[provis99]

4. amazing how Israel and the USA manage to screw things up for themselves.

The Turks were viewed with suspicion by Arabs before now, given that they are the decendants of the Ottoman Empire that oppressed the Arabs and Arab nationalism. With one stupid stroke, the US has managed to piss off another ally, and make Arabs hate us even more (and rightfully so). Israel managed to piss off one of the few countries in the world that tolerated them (the only Muslim-majority one), and seem to be hell bent on being a pariah state.