The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is known for his sharp tone in his statements about Israel. His words reflect his populist political plan.
In the midst of recent developments, there was a striking remark in Erdogan’s statement. He described Israel as “the most fascist and racist country in the world”. The attack came as a reaction to the adoption of the right to exercise national self-determination the country approved by the Knesset.
The Arab world rejected this bill and considered it to be truly racist. It instills racism in Israel. Tel Aviv has long boasted of being a democratic State in the Middle East.
The Arab position totally reflected the truth. The Turkish president’s talk about Israel is similar to his verbal positions on several occasions. This time he linked this racist bill to what he called the spirit of Hitler. “There is no difference between Hitler’s obsession with the Aryan race and Israel’s understanding that these lands are only for the Jews. Hitler’s mentality, which led the world to a great disaster, is reviving among some Israeli leaders,” Erdogan said.
Israel has its own motivation to instill racism. There is a war of words between President Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But what is striking is the report that was published stating that the Turkish firm Limak signed a contract to design and build the US Embassy in Jerusalem at a cost of $ 21 million. Limak made an alliance with an American company under the name of Desayild Limak. The alliance won the bid to build the US embassy in Jerusalem after building the US embassy in Baghdad.
This is unusual for a simple reason that the Turkish firm Limak is one of the largest Turkish companies in the fields of construction. The company is building the new Istanbul airport. It is owned by a Turkish billionaire classified as a close personal friend of President Erdogan.
According to American media reports, the former Turkish Prime Minister, Binali Yıldırım, is a member of the firm’s board of directors. The Turkish media tried to deny the news. But no official statement was issued by the company to contradict signing a contract with the US State Department.
The focus of my talk is not about the activity of a company working in construction. I am talking specifically about the incompatibility between the real positions on the ground and the Turkish political discourse, especially about the decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Erdogan was angry following the decision of moving the US embassy. He called for an emergency Islamic summit that ended with a sharp statement. Erdogan, as the President of the thirteenth session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, tried to provoke a worthless political movement. But later on, his close friend signed a contract to build the US Embassy in Jerusalem.
Here, I demand self-consistency and I renounce trading the feelings of the Arab and Islamic people. People in the region have long suffered from chaos, turmoil and crises that have plagued many countries in the region since 2011. Erdogan’s advice on the security of the first Qibla (Mecca) was not a reflection of the threat facing the second Qibla (Jerusalem). This kind of political ambivalence and the trading of religion have driven many Arab and Muslim people to pay dearly in recent years.
