By Barçın Yinanç
“We are absolutely against this,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a group of AKP lawmakers about plans to depopulate the Gaza Strip, according to daily Hürriyet.
This statement came amid a debate that broke out over the concept of Hijrah for Gazans.
Hijrah refers to the Prophet Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Medina to escape persecution. Outside of the historical event, hijrah can also refer to any kind of migration done for religious or moral reasons — leaving a place of harm or sin for one of safety or virtue.
On April 9, Taha Kılınç wrote an article on “Gaza and the hijrah” in the pro-government daily Yeni Şafak. Kılınç reflected on a “consultation meeting” he had with a “number of people from Islamic parts of the world.”
Without appearing to directly endorse them, Kılınç wrote about the views voiced during that meeting. The debate, according to Kılınç, revolved around the “need to start talking about moving the people in Gaza somewhere else.”
While this would directly suit the interests of the Zionists, Islamic countries are not doing what they should do while a people is being annihilated, he said.
“Different countries from the Islamic world could take in these people as ‘refugees’ with certain quotas … Looking to voices coming from there, people want to be saved. One of the solutions is hijrah,” wrote Kılınç.
The article was published at a time when unconfirmed claims were circulating on social media about construction being carried out to resettle Palestinians in Hatay or Syria.
“Turkey would normally be against such plans,” a retired Turkish ambassador told me.
“We always made it difficult for the people in Gaza to receive a visa from Turkey. We don’t want them to leave,” said the diplomat, who served in the Middle East.
CONSERVATIVES CRITICIZE USE OF RELIGIOUS CONCEPT
As Turkey has hosted millions of Syrian refugees, which is currently angering many in Turkey, even speculation about the resettlement of Palestinians in Turkey leads to public outcry.
“Don’t exploit hijrah,” was the headline of daily Karar, arguing U.S. President Donald Trump’s exile plan was being legitimized.
The government’s past U-turns fuel public skepticism despite Fidan’s earlier statement on the record that Turkey is categorically against Trump’s plans for the Gaza Strip.
The fact that Trump has not missed an opportunity to shower President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with praise, even in front of the Israeli prime minister, leads to speculation that the U.S. president's plans for Gaza might be on the table in talks between Ankara and Washington.
“Turkey can sugarcoat the initiative by saying it will host the wounded in Gaza or a group of youngsters to provide education,” the former envoy told me.
VOICING STRONGER CRITICISM OF ISRAEL
Ankara appears to appreciate Trump’s stance as he asks Israel to moderate its policies against Turkey and Syria. Trump asked Netanyanu to be “reasonable” after he said he could help mend fences between the two countries.
Netanyahu failed to get what he wanted about Turkey in the Syrian theater from the White House, government sources told the columnists of the daily Hürriyet.
According to press reports, the U.S. encouraged Turkey and Israel to hold military deconfliction talks in Syria.
As the talks that took place in Baku among the two countries' military officials appear to have borne fruit by reaching an initial understanding, the Turkish leadership voiced stronger criticism of Israeli strikes in Syria in contrast to its initial restraint.
“No one should misunderstand and misinterpret our restraint, patience and stance to solve issues by dialogue and slide to some erroneous ambitions,” said Erdoğan, speaking at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
Despite Israel’s objection, Turkey might not abandon plans to establish bases in Syria, although the aim has been identified as “providing military training to the Syrian army upon the request of Damascus.”
Meanwhile, Ankara stepped up work to create a joint mechanism between Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Jordan to combat ISIL, which could exploit the power vacuum following the fall of the Assad regime. Turkey wants to also weaken the hands of the YPG, which claims to help US forces fight ISIL in Syria.
“The mechanisms with the neighboring countries to fight ISIL which is reactivating in mid and lower parts of Syria, will be put in force. In the framework of bilateral cooperation, the fact that a military bilateral agreement is on the agenda between Turkey and Syria is a regional and geopolitical reality,” argue officials in Ankara.
