Gaza: Erdogan in the Eye of Storm, By Rasheed Abubakar

Three days after the January 19, 2025 ceasefire deal and prisoner exchange was reached with Israel, Dr. Khalil Al-Hayya, an acting head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, appeared in a video, where he expressed gratitude to individuals and countries that supported the Palestinians during the 15 months of Israeli genocidal war on Gaza and other parts of Palestine.

In a two-minute video posted by several pro-Iranian platforms on social media particularly on Telegram, the Hamas leader specifically acknowledged the important roles played by Hezbollah, Ansar’Allah, Iran and the Iraqi Islamic Resistance – otherwise known as Axis of Resistance, during the Israeli Gaza offensive.

Speaking in Arabic, Al-Hayya said, “We particularly mention here our brothers on the support fronts in Lebanon, especially the brothers in Hezbollah, who have offered hundreds of martyrs from among their leaders and fighters on the path to Al-Quds, led by His Eminence Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his leadership team.”

However, Turkiye’s name was noticeably missing in the list of countries mentioned in the two-minute video, fueling the suspicion of critics of President Erdogan’s alleged betrayal of Hamas and the Palestinian struggle during the 15-month genocidal war.

Many, due to available information in the media, alleged that Ankara had secretly been working for Israel and that Erdogan’s condemnation of the genocide and his mouthed stance with Palestine has actually been pretentious.

The video fueled a wave of emotional reactions, leading many to question President Erdoğan’s stance. Shockingly, it later emerged that the video, circulated by pro-iranian media platforms was doctored to recognise ONLY the support of the Axis of Resistance for Gaza during the Israeli gruesome massacre in the Gaza Strip.

In the remaining 17-minute video originally published in Arabic and English on her Telegram accounts, Hamas leader did, in fact, acknowledge and appreciate Turkiye and other countries’ supports.

He stated, “In this historic moment, we extend words of pride and honour to our people in Gaza,” while recalling “the honorable stances of all countries that supported us in various fields, especially our brothers in Turkiye, South Africa, Algeria, Russia, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Belgium, Spain, and Ireland, as well as the free people of the world who mostly supported pro-Palestinian resolutions at the United Nations.”

Unfortunately, the cut-and-paste video had already gone viral, reinforcing false narrative and perception. This incident is a stark reminder of the world we live in today, where misinformation spreads rapidly, often overshadowing the truth. However, this does not take away the efforts and support of Iran for Gaza despite ideological differences.

The pro-Iranian media strategically adopted and invested in Telegram platform as their means of communication which really assisted them to push their own narrative to a wider audience – Muslim population around the world, who have been censored by their engagements on other social media platforms – especially Zionists-controlled Facebook, Twitter, among others.

Expectedly, the Axis of Resistance picked the narratives that aligned to their objectives during the Gaza genocide and circulated it among the overwhelming Muslim audience, serving as a broader propaganda effort to shape the public perception of the Palestinian struggle. It seeks to portray the Resistant groups and their forces as the sole supporters of Palestine while casting the entire Arab world in a negative light.

The propaganda which doesn’t necessarily translate to telling lies became so pervasive that many key watchers from the Sunni countries began to overlook the flaws and the excesses in the Shia ideology and doctrine, accepting their actions and beliefs as legitimate, simply because they are seen as the only defenders or liberators of Palestine.

The narrative being pushed by these media outfits attempted to diminish President Erdoğan’s decade-long positive role and immense contributions to the liberation of the Palestinians for many reasons. This is chiefly due to Ankara’s support for Syrian Sunni rebels which later led to the ouster of Iran-backed Bashar al-Assad regime, responsible for massacre of half a million population between 2011 and 2024.

To this day, many still believe the false reports circulated by some blogs and pro-Iranian Telegram platforms in March 2024 that President Erdoğan collaborated with the Israeli regime by supplying gunpowder for its operations, despite strong refutations from the Turkish government and independent journalist.

Whereas the same Erdogan was also accused by Israel two months later of arming Hamas with ammunition to kill Israelis, without evidence – an allegation that Erdoğan has also denied. These contradictory claims highlight the ongoing attempts to manipulate narratives and distort facts by varying interests.

If anyone’s testimony should hold weight, it is those on the battlefield – HAMAS. The Palestinian resistance group has repeatedly and openly acknowledged President Erdoğan’s support without mincing words. If those directly involved in the conflict appreciate Turkiye’s contributions and unflinching supports, then what credibility do distant observers have to challenge or contradict the testimony?

However, this does not mean that Turkiye President, like other pro-Palestine countries, has been able to act without limitations. Unlike the United States, which has frequently disregarded international laws, Turkiye operates within legal constraints that have restricted its actions. But Turkiye’s critics expect it to overtly arm Hamas with its military defense without understanding that war strategy involves more than what is reported in the media.

As a NATO member, Turkiye cannot openly arm Hamas to combat Israel, a strong U.S. ally. Most analysts view Israel as Washington’s proxy in the Middle East (a child of necessity).

Turkiye is considered as an existential threat to Israel. And any country so categorised, U.S. law requires that all weapons sales to such country be evaluated under the Qualitative Military Edge (QME) standards authorized by Congress. This means every arms sale to the region must be assessed to ensure it does not adversely affect Israel’s QME. That’s one of the constraints apart from obvious fact that President Erdogan is in the midst of internal and external enemies.

Additionally, in July 2024, when Erdogan openly threatened military intervention against Israel due to the genocide in Gaza, he received a stern warning from Western nations, many of which were NATO members. They understood he could act, as demonstrated when he helped Azerbaijan reclaim the Nagorno-Karabakh region from Armenia in 2020. But Turkiye is not taking action for now, as Erdoğan referring to the “necessity to be stronger”.

Another significant limitation for President Erdoğan is his own people. While they strongly support Palestine – frequently staging protests in solidarity, and the latest was held in March 18 in reaction to Israeli renewed attacks on Gaza – they cannot afford the full-scale economic and security repercussions of direct military engagement with Israel.

Turkiye is already grappling with challenges such as the aftermath of recent earthquakes and ongoing security threats. Moreover, even if President Erdogan is ready to take military action against Israel, there is no certainty that Arab nations would join due to their lackadaisical attitudes to plights of the Palestinians despite the proximity to Palestine/geopolitical considerations.

Nevertheless, President Erdogan has continued to support the resistance of Palestine and Syria without compromise and has paid many heavy costs, economically and politically.

It will be recalled that during the last Turkiye election, the “Syrian refugees” issue shook Erdogan as one of the main polemic issues of the opposition, but he has refused to change his stance.

What many critics refuse to understand is that as a democratically elected President of a largely secular State, firmly guarded by the constitution, President Erdogan is not in a position to manage the state mechanism and foreign policy according to Islamic priorities. Despite the changing domestic political environment, it is still a problem for him to explain his Palestine policy under the concept of an “Islamic solidarity”.

The delicate balance of Turkiye’s internal politics does not and can not allow him to take action with an Islamic perspective that could enable him declare a Jihad against Israel, like Iran. Iran is free to do so officially as an “Islamic State”. Secular groups in Turkiye, with over 30 per cent of voters strength are far from understanding the Palestinian issue from an Islamic point of view.

On the economic constraint, despite experiencing economic downturn since late 2021, Erdogan has refused to abandon “his brothers” as he usually address the Palestinians in Palestine. Evidently, Turkiye has been rated as one of the leading providers of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians during the Israeli attack on Gaza.

It’s important to state that the Al-Aqsa Flood Campaign initiated by Hamas on October 7, 2024 came at a time when Turkiye was trying to recover from the devastating earthquake of February 6, 2023. Just eight months before the Zionist atrocity in Gaza, Turkiye was hit by a strong earthquake with 53,500 death toll and 100 billion dollars damage cost.

As a country trying to heal its wounds, Turkiye continued to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Of all the humanitarian aid provided by the oil-rich Gulf countries – UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar – Turkiye provided more than a quarter, a country without oil or natural gas reservoirs.

For instance, Turkiye has been hosting about five million Syrians for years. This has not changed during the war in Gaza, even as President Erdogan tried to provide shelter for the victims of earthquake, building hundreds of thousands of houses, from the state budget that strives to complete very high-cost defense projects. The vital importance of these military technology projects are seen in Syria in the struggle to overthrow Assad Dictatorship supported by Russia and Iran.

Turkiye’s eventual trade embargo on Israel which began with the restrictions on 54 products exported to Israel in April before Erdogan cut off all trade with Israel in May 2024, also has implications on Ankara’s economy. Turkiye’s annual economic loss by imposing an embargo on Israel is put at $5 billion, yet Erdogan remains passionate about his Brothers and Sisters in Palestine.

Evidently, President Erdogan is not infallible; like any human, but he has been a victim of damaging propaganda fed to critics who are too quick to label him as a ‘traitor’ or ‘betrayer’.

Unfortunately, this damaging criticism has swayed some of his admirers, especially Muslims, against one of the few leaders in the Sunni countries that has identified with Hamas, even when other Arab nations as well as US and Europe sided with the oppressor of Palestinians – Israel.

This dynamics has consequently but surprisingly turned many to critics of President Erdogan. They have indirectly been recruited as instruments of propaganda due to the negative news they innocently consume.

On this note, there is need for individuals and groups to develop critical thinking through media literacy. If people fail to scrutinise and filter the information they consume, the media will condition them to hate the oppressed and love the oppressor.

The way forward, which has been previously proposed, lies in leveraging the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The OIC was originally established in September 1969 to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque following the arson attack by Israeli extremist against Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holy site in Islam and located in Israeli occupied Jerusalem.

With 57 member states including Nigeria, the OIC has extensively documented attacks on Al-Aqsa and the killing of innocent Palestinians, especially women and children. However, documentation alone is insufficient. What is its value if not followed by decisive action? OIC should establish a unified Muslim army, akin to those maintained by NATO and the United Nations, to safeguard its interests and serve as a peacekeeping force in regions like Gaza and by extension, Palestine.

Dear @OIC_OCI

On behalf of all the people of conscience across the world, we at @muslimnews_NG call on the #OIC member states to consider forming a Muslim army as one of the ways towards protecting #Aqsa. Enough of condemnations without action. #PalestinianLivesMatter #Gaza pic.twitter.com/AUokahZVF3

— Muslim News Nigeria (@muslimnews_NG) April 10, 2023

* Abubakar writes for Muslim News Nigeria| Email: rawshield123@gmail.com

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