We are living in a strange period of time when nationalism is quickly being transformed into ‘love for the US and Israel.’ It is no longer a secret that some groups want Washington to put an end to Erdoğan’s political career because of his views, expressed shockingly in Davos, against Israel,” he wrote in his column in the Radikal daily.
Some publications and propaganda that rushed onto the country’s agenda following the Davos incident should be viewed from this perspective. Erdoğan’s words, which started with the strident introduction, “You know very well how to kill,” disturbed some groups in Turkey more than they did the Israeli media. The Turkish prime minister’s actions that brought the war crimes committed in Gaza onto the international agenda have excessively offended our retired ambassadors and diplomats. Some accused the government and the prime minister of being anti-Semitic, or they implied as much. Is it true? Of course not.
The target of the prime minister’s protest is utterly clear: the war crimes committed in Gaza. By saying “whoever encourages anti-Semitism will find me as an opponent,” the prime minister clearly underlined that his protest did not target the Jews, but the policies of the Israeli government. As a matter of fact, Israel has not paid any attention to the UN resolutions, a stance which has been condemned by all countries around the world. The Israeli government’s policies on Palestine have been criticized by Israel’s politicians, intellectuals and journalists.
The strategy of particularly left-wing nationalism, pinpointed by Çandar, should be given special attention. Some groups are openly advocating anti-Semitism on one hand, and secretly wishing for the US Congress’ approval of the Armenian genocide resolution on the other. These groups are the ones which quickly shouted that Erdoğan’s behavior in Davos would offend the Jewish lobby. Those who would, every April, create a buzz that the US Congress might pass an Armenian genocide resolution are today preparing -- if this resolution is passed -- to say: “We told you so. If you criticize the Israeli president, this is what will happen.”
Actually, the Jewish lobby that influences Washington suffered great damage last year. Supporting the Armenian lobby, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) director, Abraham Foxman, caused a great crisis to come out of this issue. The commonly voiced observation was, “The Jewish lobby would prevent the passage of a bill every year, but now, this ‘support’ has ceased.” This observation gave the lobby its trump card. People asked, “What happened to make the lobby change its attitude?” and eventually, the Turkish people came to the point where they said: “Let everything happen. We will wait and see.”
What happens if the US Congress passes the resolution? Firstly, Turkish-US relations will be spoiled. Secondly, the Jewish lobby, which acted inconsistently and created questions over their intentions last year, will pay the price for the passage of the resolution. One can safely assume that the resulting fury will negatively affect Turkish-Israeli relations. Israel is already devoid of friends or allies in the Middle East. Losing Turkey would be a worst-case scenario for Israel.
There is no anti-Semitism in Turkey. There was no anti-Semitism in the past and there will not be in the future. Yet, the sentiments of the Turkish nation toward the Armenian genocide resolution should be understood. Turks believe that this issue has been taken completely out of context. They think that these incidents occurred during the Ottoman Empire in 1915, and that after the Ottoman Empire, a new state was established; and that even during the time of the old state, the forced migration issue had been taken to court and those responsible for negligence had been punished. Moreover, they believe that the term “genocide” was introduced after World War II, and that Western countries also committed genocide in the countries that they invaded. They object to the West’s silence on the genocide in Bosnia and that the incidents in Gaza amount to a sort of genocide. In such an atmosphere, if the lobbies that are said to be controlled by Israel lend support to the Armenian genocide resolution, it will be received here with great rage and fury -- except for a small group. Everybody must act with more care and sensitivity.
