OPINION: Opportunists hijacking pro-Palestine groups to deflect attention from Israeli war crimes to Turkiye

Insincere infiltrators who have drawn false parallels between their plight and the people of Gaza are proving detrimental to the Palestinian cause.

The genocide that has been unfolding in Gaza has triggered worldwide protests and demonstrations since October 2023, and rightly so. But beyond demands to hold the Israeli government to account for carrying out some of the worst war crimes to be documented in modern times, Gaza has also become a rallying cry for oppressed peoples from other parts of the world whose plights have not attracted as much attention. While the Palestinians in Gaza may feel hard-done-by when it comes to mainstream media coverage of their situation, they have been fortunate enough to have a number of eloquent and outspoken tech-savvy independent journalists and influencers to help live stream the atrocities being committed against them and generally keep an otherwise uninformed public in-the-know.

It’s understandable, therefore, that people who have been subjected to lesser-acknowledged afflictions may want to draw parallels between their suffering and the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza in order to raise awareness of their own situation. In some instances, these may be genuine demonstrations of solidarity, no matter how far-fetched the connection may seem. The raising of the Palestinian flag by Celtic supporters in Scotland, for example, is a showing of defiance by the Irish Catholic diaspora against what many of them consider to be the same global establishment that was responsible for their own historic suffering at the hands of the British Empire. The same could be said about the solidarity shown by the people of South Africa, who are reminded of the times of apartheid when they see how Palestinians are treated in their native homeland by the Israeli occupation.

But not all attempts to form links with the Palestinian solidarity movement come from a place of sincerity. Many opportunists are taking advantage of the Palestinian cause to spread misinformation and promote their own agenda based on false parallels. Some of these opportunists might even appear to be among the most committed to the Palestinian cause, but in reality, their concern for the people of Gaza is not rooted in a genuine concern for their fellow human beings. Rather, it is rooted in exploiting the suffering of the Gazan people to further their own aims. Their involvement in the pro-Palestine camp is merely a strategy to hijack the movement and steer its members towards fulfilling their own objectives, without any regard for how those objectives may in fact harm the Palestinian cause in the long-term.

More often than not, the objective of these opportunist groups, it seems, is to divert condemnation away from the Israeli government, and to make Turkiye the focal point of their protests. Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and now Gaza is likened to Turkiye’s so-called ‘occupation’ of northern Cyprus and northern Syria, with some even equating Turkiye’s internationally recognised sovereign borders to the ‘occupation’ of make-believe states that never existed, such as ‘Kurdistan’, ‘Western Armenia’, and ‘Pontus’. In fact, these arguments against Turkiye are often brought up by Israeli officials themselves whenever the Turkish government publicly criticises the Israeli government’s oppressive policies on the Palestinians.

That’s not to say that Turkiye should be completely free from scrutiny. No country in the world can really boast of having a squeaky clean human rights record, and Turkiye is no exception. Even many officials in the Turkish government would agree that Turkiye, like most countries, still has many improvements it needs to make with regards to the rights and freedoms of its citizens. But we also can’t forget that only 12 years ago women in Turkiye were still being legally discriminated against based on how they were choosing to dress. Before the AK Party government introduced its ‘democratisation package’ in 2013, minority languages such as Kurdish could not be used for educational instruction in schools. We also shouldn’t forget that during a period when the majority of developed countries were rejecting refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria, Turkiye led the way in welcoming as many as 5 million refugees to their country, setting a shining example of humanity and mercy to the world.

It’s actually because of Turkiye’s reputation of being a beacon of hope for oppressed peoples such as the Palestinians, Uyghurs and Rohingya that Ankara’s relative silence on Gaza has left many people around the world, including its own citizens, disappointed that the Turkish government isn’t doing more on this occasion. While President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was so eager to take credit for the Mavi Marmara aid flotilla that attempted to break the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza back when he was prime minister in 2010, he did not give the same approval for a second such mission in 2024. Although Mr Erdogan has criticised the Israeli government for its atrocities in Gaza, business between Turkiye and Israel more or less continues as normal, and this has led to even some of his most loyal supporters over the last two decades to abandon him.

Turkiye’s comparatively subdued response to the situation in Gaza could have many explanations. It’s possible that in the last 14 years that Mr Erdogan has learned that he cannot be so reactionary as a world leader. It could be that at the grand old age of 70, he no longer has the energy or the appetite for another major diplomatic crisis. Perhaps, in 2010, he did not expect Israeli commandos to actually raid the flotilla and kill 10 aid workers in international waters, but now he realises that sending out another flotilla would mean almost certain death for those on board. Or maybe he is afraid of the impact such a move would have on the already fragile Turkish economy, especially if it leads to sanctions or loss of trade. Moreso, he is likely to be worried about how taking such a bold stance would impact his leadership, as he has a lot less political security at home than he did the last time he found himself at loggerheads with the Israeli government.

There are of course those who are loyal to the Palestinian cause for genuine reasons who will be unhappy with Mr Erdogan and the Turkish government for their softer-than-expected approach in this instance. Saying that, these activists will still be grateful for Turkiye’s leading the charge against the Zionist regime on previous occasions, as well as the fact that Turkiye is still one of the few countries in the international arena to openly call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. However, among those criticising the Turkish government and trying to conflate its policies with the murderous policies of the Israeli government are some opportunistic groups and individuals who never really cared about the Palestinian cause, but have only recently jumped onto the bandwagon to give themselves some kind of moral high ground from which they can attack Turkiye.

These people have no acknowledgement, respect or appreciation for what Turkiye has done for the Palestinian cause in the past, nor do they acknowledge, respect or appreciate the good Turkiye is still trying to do for the cause today. Yes, Turkiye is falling short on expectations when we consider how much more it could be doing to help the cause, but those seeking to portray Turkiye as being on par with Israel in terms of its evil intent have no regard for how the Palestinian cause could be damaged without Turkiye being in its corner, albeit in a more limited capacity compared to what we’ve grown used to under the reign of Mr Erdogan. It is also clear that these people are not as concerned about other countries that are letting Gaza down as they have nothing to gain in highlighting the failures of other nations, particularly those in the West that are directly collaborating with Israel in this genocide. In fact, one doesn’t need to dig too deep to discover the links between these opportunists and recipients of financial benefits from pro-Israeli lobby groups.

Yet despite having such a flimsy disguise, these opportunists have been successful in creating a certain narrative that has people viewing Türkiye’s missions in Cyprus and Syria through the same lens they view Israel, without any acknowledgement of the backstory.

In the case of Cyprus, it is not in their interests to mention Greek attempts to ethnically cleanse the island of its native Turks for 11 years BEFORE the Turkish military operation in 1974. Nor is there mention of the international treaty signed in 1960 granting Turkiye the right to unilaterally intervene in Cyprus after the Greek nationalist junta invaded the island, installed a new government, and raised the flag of the ‘Hellenic Republic of Cyprus’.

Likewise, when it comes to northern Syria, there’s no talk about the atrocities that were being committed by ISIS, the YPG and the Assad regime on the ethnically diverse people of the region, and how these groups were using the territory as a launch pad for rocket attacks on Turkish soil. Neither is any context provided as to how Turkiye, a key NATO member on the bloc’s most volatile frontier, worked closely with local militias on the ground to clear the area of these dangerous groups and create a bubble of peace and security for all the people of that land – Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, Alawites and Armenians included.

Again, Turkiye can, and should, be scrutinised for the way it achieved these military objectives. Questions should be raised as to the effectiveness of its foreign policy. Criticisms of how it administers the aforementioned territories should be addressed, and alleged injustices that occur under the watch of the Turkish military should be challenged. But in no way, shape or form can Turkiye be compared to Israel with regard to its policies on Cyprus and Syria, as there are some very clear differences between them.

First of all, unlike Israel, Turkiye has never illegally annexed territory outside of its internationally recognised borders. It has not maintained a long-term military presence outside of its borders except that it has done so with the invitation and support of a local population who have asked for its assistance to deal with a threat to their security. Turkiye’s sovereign borders have never extended over territories that weren’t traditionally inhabited by ethnic Turks or Turkish-speaking peoples, or upon another pre-existing sovereign entity.

Also, while separatists do exist in Turkiye, at no point have they mobilised or even been given enough of a mandate from the people they claim to represent to officially pronounce their independence, let alone gain any kind of recognition as such. They have never been like what Taiwan is to China, or even like what Catalonia is to Spain. They have even less of a historical basis than the IRA in Northern Ireland. At best, all they have done is designed a few colourful flags, come up with a few catchy slogans, run around a few mountains, drawn an map of an imaginary land with imaginary borders, and appealed to a few delusional neo-liberal fantasists who fancy themselves as freedom fighters in some kind of romantic struggle of good vs evil.

Yet these opportunists have somehow convinced the world that their struggle is of the same nature as that of the Palestinians, that their suffering is on par with the suffering of the people of Gaza, and that Turkiye is as bad an international actor as Israel. They have managed to attach their cause to the Palestinian one through the infiltration of marginal left-wing groups who have been sold to their narrative, despite all the blatant red flags and contradictions. It is a cooperation that is self-serving, and not founded on any real concern for what’s best for the Palestinian people. Its only aim is to isolate Turkiye and cause harm to one of the few tangible ways the people of Palestine could ever receive any kind of future support, even if it is just moral support.

This, of course, would only work in the favour of Israel, which doesn’t take criticism of its genocidal policies lightly, even from a trade partner. The Israeli government is especially weary of any pro-Palestinian rhetoric coming out of Ankara due to Turkiye being a mighty Sunni Muslim power on its doorstep which also historic connection to the lands the Zionist regime is trying to claim as part of a so-called Jewish State. It is only natural, therefore, that Israel supports any effort to weaken Turkiye, whether that be politically, economically or militarily. Finding no legal or ethical route to defend its actions in Gaza and the West Bank, Israel can only deflect attention away from its crimes by falsely accusing Turkiye of being equally guilty of similar crimes.

For the above reasons, members of the pro-Palestine camp should beware of the deception taking place within their ranks by groups and individuals who jump from lap to lap seeking only to fulfill their poorly planned and ill-informed pipe dream, which has no intrinsic integrity or organic foundation. These opportunists may be holding up Palestinian flags alongside their separatist flags at pro-Palestine marches in cities like Washington, London and Paris, but elsewhere on the world stage they are cooperating and collaborating with Israel where their interests align, and when put to scale, they have more aligned interests with the Zionists than they do with the Palestinians.

Ertan Karpazli is the founder of Radio EastMed. He has previously been published by TRT World, Politics Today, Middle East Monitor, Daily Sabah, World Bulletin, The Daily Mirror, The Fletcher Forum, The Platform, T-Vine and many more online and print publications.
Tweets @Ertan_Karpazli
All views expressed by the writer are solely his own.