By Nazlan Ertan
The phrase of the moment in Turkey is “abesle iştigal,” the very expression that the country’s word-savvy Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan used to dismiss U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to "take over Gaza" and transform it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” In the colorful mosaic of Turkish, “abesle iştigal” conveys the sheer futility of engaging in pointless endeavors. The expression is even featured in Lûgat365, a project dedicated to preserving beautiful but near-forgotten words in Turkish.
This old-fashioned phrase has deep roots in Ottoman Turkish, with origins in Arabic. Abes means "absurd" or "nonsensical," while iştigal translates to "occupation" or "engagement." Taken together, the phrase means "engaging in the absurd or the futile.” In contemporary usage, it denotes actions or ideas that waste time and effort, akin to "a fool’s errand" or "an exercise in futility." A seasoned diplomat might translate it as “a nonstarter.” Elsewhere, people would simply call it “mind-boggling/utter nonsense.”
FUTILE, ABSURD AND FOOLISH
Fidan’s remark that even thinking about taking control of Gaza and relocating its residents was “abesle iştigal” left journalists and editors scrambling for the most precise translation. Options ranged from “exercise in frivolity” to “total nonsense.” In the end, Turkey’s ever-so-prudent public broadcaster, TRT World, settled on the simple “absurd.”
Fidan’s reaction and the choice of phrase were carefully calibrated—firm in opposition yet subtly skeptical of the idea’s doability. Fidan, a seasoned intelligence tsar, likely expected that Trump’s team would soon desperately seek to “clarify” that the president’s vision of the U.S. “owning Gaza and building it up” did not actually mean deploying U.S. troops or spending U.S. taxpayer dollars on the venture. It takes experience to recognize an unpredictable leader who loves to show off force but can quickly switch positions.
Others were less restrained. Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, called the plan “unlawful, immoral, and irresponsible.” The EU, still in its Trump-appeasement phase, kept shamefully quiet for hours.
KEEPING THE ABSURDITY ALIVE
“Abesle iştigal” has found a place in Turkish popular culture, surfacing in music, media, and political discourse. The phrase inspired a rap song by Stanzi, and it lends its name to a Spotify podcast exploring absurdity in all its forms.
In politics, one of the most famous users of the expression is Devlet Bahçeli, the grizzled nationalist leader who now stands as Erdoğan’s staunchest ally. Back in 2011, however, Bahçeli had no qualms about using “abesle iştigal” to criticize Erdoğan’s attempts to shift the blame for the Van earthquake, saying that Erdoğan, who had been in power for nine years, was clearly to blame. He was notably less vocal about accountability when the 2023 earthquake devastated an eighth of the country.
