Israel-Hamas conflict exposes Turkey’s irrelevance in region
Turkey’s apparent exclusion from cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas shows President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s foreign policy is in tatters.
The fighting that began May 10 between Israel and Hamas stopped by a cease-fire brokered mainly by Egypt following the pressures of US President Joe Biden on the backstage. By comparison, its military and primarily political toll is much higher than the 51-day conflict in 2014.
Renowned Palestinian intellectual and researcher Khalil Shikaki wrote, “The ramifications of this latest round of Israeli-Palestinian confrontation — Israeli military strikes in Gaza, Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli cities, and rising intercommunal violence between Arabs and Jews — will be long-lasting and profound. Above all, it will reinforce the sense among Israelis, Palestinians and most of the international community that the search for a peaceful resolution to the conflict has come to an end for the foreseeable future.”
One of the casualties of the latest round of Israeli-Hamas fighting is Turkey's apparent irrelevance as a regional power in terms of the strategic ramifications of the fighting.
After yearslong power projection in a bid to be perceived as an emergent revisionist power in the Middle East and international arena, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's strong pro-Hamas stand has proved to be ineffective both in the military and the peace-making fields.
