Is Turkey Creating an ‘Ottosphere’ in Middle East?

Henry Srebrnik, [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer

Turkey is becoming a major player in the Middle East, as the Arab world, once mainly ruled by Ottoman emperors, continues to be convulsed by political earthquakes.

In recent weeks, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who heads the moderately Islamic Adalet ve Kalk?nma Partisi (Justice and Development Party), has come out in favour of full Palestinian UN membership and warned Israel against any further attacks on Hamas-ruled Gaza.

He recently told Arab leaders that recognition of a Palestinian state was “not an option, but an obligation.”

The Turkish leader said that Israel’s raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May 2010, which killed eight Turks and a Turkish American on board a Turkish ship, occurred in international waters and was “cause for war,” but added that his country had showed “patience” and refrained from taking any action.

After Israel refused to apologize, Erdogan withdrew Turkey’s ambassador, suspended military co-operation with Israel, and froze all trade ties with the Jewish state.

He described Israel as “the main threat to regional peace.”

Erdogan told al-Jazeera television that “my brothers in Gaza are waiting for me. I too long for Gaza. Sooner or later, if God allows it, I will go to Gaza.”

He also vowed to send the Turkish navy to escort Gaza-bound aid ships in the future.

“Israel will no longer be able to do what it wants in the Mediterranean,” he told an audience in Tunis earlier this month, “and you’ll be seeing Turkish warships in this sea.”

He stated that Israel would be prevented from exploiting the eastern Mediterranean’s oil and gas reserves on its own.

Erdogan received a tumultuous welcome when he visited Egypt, Tunisia and Libya in support of their new and still shaky post-dictatorial political systems.

“These countries are trying to transform into democratic system from autocratic systems,” he declared.

“We have to lend them a helping hand in their efforts.”

He hailed the advent of democracy in Libya and the “memory of martyrs who sacrificed themselves for their country and their religion.”

Turkey hopes to encourage cooperation, investments, and trade with these countries as well.

Erdogan has also warned Bashar al-Assad’s repressive Syrian government in Damascus “that there is no regime that can go against the will of the people. This is what those who oppress the people of Syria should realize.”

A century ago, almost the entire Middle East was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, and the Turks were a major force in the world.

Some analysts are calling Erdogan’s policies an attempt to create a new “Ottosphere” in the region.

There’s no doubt that he’s trying to do just that.