Turkey & Palestine: Both Middle Eastern Secular Democracies

By Carol A. Stevens

It was no coincidence that Turkey was among the first nations to give official recognition to the new nation of Palestine. When Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat expressed his appreciation for Turkish recognition on the same day Palestinian independence was declared in Algiers on Nov. 15, the Turkish Prime Ministry said it was pleased with the Palestinian acceptance of UN resolutions 242 and 338. It undoubtedly was also pleased at the birth of another democratic secular state in the Middle East.

Since the Algiers meeting, Turkey has done much more than just pay lip service to Middle East peace. In late December, Turkish Prime Minister Turgut Ozal sent a message to his Israeli counterpart, Yitzhak Shamir, and Turkish Foreign Minister Mesut Yflmaz sent a message to his Israeli counterpart, Moshe Arens, requesting Israel to "consider the positive developments in the Middle East" and participate in a Middle East conference.

A senior Foreign Ministry official said Turkey, which has diplomatic ties with Israel and is a member of both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Islamic Conference, believes peace and stability cannot be restored in the region without Israeli recognition of the "inalienable rights" of the Palestinians, including the right of statehood, and that all states have the "right to exist within secure borders." Translated from diplomatic language, that's a plea for Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state in return for recognition of Israel by the Palestinians and their Arab supporters.

A first-hand report of the events in Algiers, by Turkish Daily News editor llnur Evik, said that relations between Turkey and the PLO have become significantly more friendly in 1988. Although in the past some Palestine National Council hard-liners have been critical of Turkey because it has a mission in Tel Aviv, in Algiers PLO political bureau chief Farouk Kaddoumi called Turkey "one of the closest allies of the Palestinian cause." He praised Prime Minister Ozal for bringing Turkey "closer to the Arab world and stepping up its support of their causes."

Kaddoumi also praised a speech at the Islamic Foreign Ministers meeting in Amman, Jordan, by Turkish Foreign Minister Yilmaz announcing Turkey's all-out support for Palestinian rights. Kaddoumi noted that Arafat received a warm welcome during his visit to Ankara in late October, and that Turkey, using its good offices with Israel, managed to send humanitarian relief aid to the refugee camps in the occupied Gaza Strip during 1988.

Yilmaz in turn expressed hopes for peace in the Middle East as a result of the PNC's "constructive" statements in Algiers.

Turkey's parliamentary opposition party leaders also must be credited with Turkey's early recognition of the new state. Previously, the Foreign Ministry had said it was ready to recognize Palestine "provided that Arab countries do so first. " But official Turkish recognition came only six hours after demands for it in Parliament by the two opposition parties.

Spokesman Ismail Cem of the Social Democrat Populists, the major opposition party, said Turkey had "done its duty" by recognizing the Palestinian state. "This has now created a new option for Israel," he stressed, voicing hope that Israeli leadership would not miss this "golden opportunity."

"There is no longer a nation of dispersed people," Cem said, referring to the Palestinians. "Now there is a state with peaceful principles... Now Israel has the opportunity to end this suffering."

Right-wing True Path Party spokesman Koksal Toptan said his party hoped that the Palestinian move at Algiers would be the first of many in the Middle East "on the path to peace."

Turkey and Palestine have more in common than the fact of their majority Muslim populations. Turks feel that Palestine, like Turkey earlier in this century, is fighting a secular nationalist revolution. It appears that this mutual recognition of Turkish and Palestinian commonalties has motivated a new Israeli push to upgrade its relations with Turkey. Israel desperately wants Turkey to turn its face further toward the West, settle its differences with Greece, and join the European Community. The last thing Israel wants is a renewal and strengthening of historic Turco-Arab ties.

There was a time when much of Islam was united within the far-flung Ottoman empire, whose capital was Istanbul. After the Turkish debacle on the side of the Central Powers in World War I, European powers dismembered much of the Ottoman Empire. But in a bitter war of independence, Turkey, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, regained control of its Anatolian heartland and established a new national capital in Ankara. Under Ataturk's dynamic rule, Turkey became the first modern democratic secular state in the Middle East. The latest Middle Eastern democratic secular state, Palestine was born on Nov. 15 in Algiers, where the Palestine National Council voted approval of "a democratic, parliamentary system based on freedom of opinion, multiple parties, freedom of worship, and equality between men and women."

Carol A. Stevens is an editor of the Turkish Daily News in Ankara.

SIDEBAR

The Flag Balloon

The Flag Balloon is a sensitive portrayal of the Palestinian uprising, the intifadah. Written by prominent Washington, DC, author Frances Stickles and illustrated by well-known American artist Janet Townsley, the book presents the realities of life under military occupation honestly, while emphasizing hope, not hate.

Boys and girls aged 6 to 11 will identify with the determination of the young heroine to make a flag to be raised during her town's flag day. Young readers will rejoice as she surmounts a series of obstacles, each illustrating a problem faced by her community, and will share her triumph as her flag, symbolizing the indomitable spirit of freedom, finally soars high above occupier and occupied alike.

To order, write or telephone AET at 1-800-368-5788 (in Washington, 939-6050).