This weekend, a NATO member threatened to attack one of America’s major non-NATO allies–and nobody in Washington even appears to have noticed. According to the Turkish daily Hurriyet, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu lambasted Israel’s reported airstrike on an arms convoy inside Syria and warned that “Turkey would not stay unresponsive to an Israeli attack against any Muslim country.” He also lambasted Syrian President Bashar Assad for failing to launch retaliatory strikes against Israel himself and charged that Assad must have “made a secret deal with Israel.”
Granted, Turkey isn’t really going to attack Israel, nor is Assad likely to do so in response to Davutoglu’s taunts–which is why most Western media outlets, even had they noticed the story, would have dismissed it as non-newsworthy. But they’d be wrong. The failure to report this constant drumbeat of anti-Israel incitement–not just in Turkey, but also in other countries–may be the biggest single reason why so many Americans, including senior policy-makers, consistently misread the Middle East.
Consider, for instance, what Davutoglu actually told his countrymen via the press briefing quoted in Hurriyet. First, he told them Israel is the kind of criminal state that attacks other Muslim countries for no good reason: He didn’t bother mentioning that the reported target was a convoy ferrying sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah, a terrorist organization openly dedicated to Israel’s eradication. Second, he told them Israel is the kind of criminal state that makes secret deals with Assad, a leader who has slaughtered over 60,000 of his own citizens. Nor is this unusual: Officials from the ruling AKP party produce a constant stream of anti-Israel (and anti-Jewish) incitement. Indeed, as we know from WikiLeaks, even former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey concluded that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan “simply hates Israel.”
Ignorance of this incitement has real consequences for U.S. policy. For instance, the Obama administration wasted copious amounts of time, energy and diplomatic capital in trying to effect a Turkish-Israeli reconciliation after Israel’s botched raid on a Turkish-sponsored flotilla to Gaza in May 2010. In reality, Erdogan never wanted a reconciliation; for him, the flotilla was a golden opportunity to downgrade ties with a country he loathed. Hence he rejected every Israel offer of apology and compensation; he also rejected the conclusions of the UN inquiry Washington orchestrated in an attempt to satisfy him. To anyone aware of the nonstop anti-Israel incitement Erdogan and his colleagues had been spouting for years, this outcome would have been predictable. But because American officials weren’t, they wasted valuable diplomatic resources that could have been better spent elsewhere.
Far more important, however, is that many U.S. policymakers still consider Turkey a reliable ally with common interests–and are then dismayed when it doesn’t act accordingly. For instance, Washington recently asked Turkey to intervene on its behalf should Syria use chemical weapons; Turkey agreed to accept the U.S.-donated equipment but refused to actually promise to take action.
Yet in fact, America has very little in common with a country that threatens to attack Cyprus (as well as Israel), extols a leader wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, propagates the “Jews control the media” stereotype, and so forth. And most Americans would probably recognize this, if they knew the facts. But they don’t, and never will–because the media has decided that such details aren’t newsworthy.
If Hagel's nomination is shot down, maybe Obama can nominate Erdogan for Secretary of Defense.
Erdogan can be Obama's special plenipotentiary for the United States upcoming direct talks with Iran over its nuclear program. n non second thought that's too darn likely to be even a satiric point
Or Hagel can be Erdogan's Secretary of Offense toward Israel.
"…the Obama administration wasted copious amounts of time, energy and diplomatic capital in trying to effect a Turkish-Israeli reconciliation after Israel’s botched raid on a Turkish-sponsored flotilla to Gaza in May 2010." n nIsrael also "wasted" — and continues to "waste" — efforts seeking a reconciliation with Turkey. The two nations still have diplomatic relations, and maintaining these is important to Israel.
???? is there any israeli source that claims Israeli actions are likely to restore entente between the two nations or lists any ongoing cooperation between the two states? any? important in what way? if important what evidence would there be that trying to repair relations is NOT a wasted effort on Israel's part? a state calling you a criminal rogue over and over and over would indicate unbridgeable hostility. it ain't raining outside. it's spit.
nI don’t think anyone is shocked this is the same administration that just gave the Muslim Brother Hood weapons. The best thing that we can do is get out of the way and let Israel do their thing. It’s amazing how under Obama, the Middle East is about to explode and be in flames.
n nThe Middle east is no more about to explode or collapse than any other realm Obama has touched. n nThe sad thing is not that we have an incompetent ideologue in charge, but that the majority of the American people put him there – twice. THAT is the real problem. And furthermore, even more people think Hillary is amazing. n n
MainesMichael, you sir, are speaking truth to power right there! When I hear libs say that most Americans are idiots or stupid, I find I have a hard time disagreeing… just not for the same reasons that they believe…
So, then yes, it will blow up and be in flames, because everything else that Obama has touch as stunk.
Exactly.
Turkey increasingly mimics the insane bombast of Iran each day.
And this is a nation British PM, Cameron is eager to welcome into the EU. n nHe's not a socialist or remotely of the left but more of a very rich, Eton educated Rino equivalent so keen to burnish his Notting Hill liberalistic tendency's he is will ing to relinquish Britain to the depredations of an open border with these Islamists. n nIt won't happen, mainly because France quite understandably has said non. n nBut the ramifications are horrific. n nEighty million Muslims, nicely stewed in the polemics of Erdogan just poised to flood into Europe, entitled to all the benefits (which we indiginous suckers have paid for) including free health care, unemployment benefit, child care credits, housing benefit and the rest. n nJust imagine? Obviously Cameron either won't or can't which is why Labour will win the next election. n nThen what? We ain't seen nothing yet.
thanks for the link. very good article by Jeffrey
The late William Safire was a great champion of Turkey, repeatedly urging that Turkey be admitted to the EU. Can only wonder what he would be saying in his much missed NYT columns if he were still around.
If he were still around, NYT would have discontinued his column and you would have had to read it elsewhere.
Safire was an NYT columnist for years and years, finally retiring when he was of retirement age and chose to do so. Don't know why you think the NYT would not have continued on with him for as long as he cared to stay and was capable of it. While I generally like David Brooks, who replaced Safire on the NYT op-ed page, there is much less "contrast" there now, and correspondingly less interest.