{"id":20034,"date":"2010-06-24T09:18:10","date_gmt":"2010-06-24T07:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishforum.com.tr\/en\/content\/?p=20034"},"modified":"2014-01-05T19:47:03","modified_gmt":"2014-01-05T17:47:03","slug":"turkeys-gain-is-irans-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2010\/06\/24\/turkeys-gain-is-irans-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey\u2019s Gain Is Iran\u2019s Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6>Op-Ed Contributors<\/h6>\n<h1>Turkey\u2019s  Gain Is Iran\u2019s Loss<\/h1>\n<h6>By ELLIOT HEN-TOV  and BERNARD HAYKEL<\/h6>\n<h6>Published: June 18, 2010<\/h6>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\nvar articleToolsShareData = {\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.nytimes.com\\\/2010\\\/06\\\/19\\\/opinion\\\/19haykel.html\",\"headline\":\"Turkey\\u2019s Gain Is Iran\\u2019s Loss\",\"description\":\"The U.S. may benefit as Turkey uses the flotilla attack to take a leadership role in the Muslim world.\",\"keywords\":\"Arabs,International Relations,Erdogan  Recep Tayyip,Free Gaza Movement,Hamas,Turkey,Israel,Iran,Gaza Strip\",\"section\":\"opinion\",\"sub_section\":null,\"section_display\":\"Opinion\",\"sub_section_display\":null,\"byline\":\"By ELLIOT HEN-TOV  and BERNARD HAYKEL\",\"pubdate\":\"June 18, 2010\",\"passkey\":null};\nfunction getShareURL() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.url);\n}   \nfunction getShareHeadline() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.headline);\n}   \nfunction getShareDescription() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.description);\n}   \nfunction getShareKeywords() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.keywords);\n}   \nfunction getShareSection() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.section);\n}\nfunction getShareSubSection() {\n\treturn encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.sub_section);\n}\nfunction getShareSectionDisplay() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.section_display);\n}\nfunction getShareSubSectionDisplay() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.sub_section_display);\n}\nfunction getShareByline() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.byline);\n}   \nfunction getSharePubdate() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.pubdate);\n}   \nfunction getSharePasskey() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.passkey);\n}\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Princeton, N.J.<\/p>\n<p>SINCE Israel\u2019s <span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/06\/01\/world\/middleeast\/01flotilla.html\">deadly  raid on the  Turkish ship Mavi Marmara<\/span> last month, it\u2019s been  assumed that Iran  would be the major beneficiary of the wave of global  anti-Israeli  sentiment. But things seem to be playing out much  differently: Iran  paradoxically stands to lose much influence as Turkey  assumes a  surprising new role as the modern, democratic and  internationally  respected nation willing to take on Israel and oppose  America.<\/p>\n<p>While many Americans may feel betrayed by the behavior of their  longtime  allies in Ankara, Washington actually stands to gain  indirectly if a  newly muscular Turkey can adopt a leadership role in  the Sunni Arab  world, which has been eagerly looking for a better  advocate of its  causes than Shiite, authoritarian Iran or the inept and  flaccid Arab  regimes of the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n<p>Turkey\u2019s Islamist government has distilled every last bit of  political  benefit from the flotilla crisis, domestically and  internationally. And  if the Gaza blockade is abandoned or loosened, it  will be easily  portrayed as a victory for Turkish engagement on behalf  of the  Palestinians. Thus the fiery rhetoric of Turkey\u2019s prime  minister, Recep  Tayyip Erdogan, appeals not only to his domestic  constituency, but also  to the broader Islamic world. It is also an  attempt to redress what many  in the Arab and Muslim worlds see as a  historic imbalance in Turkey\u2019s  foreign policy in favor of Israel.  Without having to match his words  with action, Mr. Erdogan has amassed  credentials to be the leading  supporter of the Palestinian cause.<\/p>\n<p>While most in the West seem to have overlooked this dynamic, Tehran  has  not. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used a regional summit meeting  in  Istanbul this month to  deliver an  inflammatory anti-Israel speech, yet it went virtually  unnoticed  among the chorus of international condemnations of Israel\u2019s  act. On June  12 Iran dispatched its own aid flotilla bound for Gaza,  and offered to  provide an escort by its Revolutionary Guards for other  ships breaking  the blockade.<\/p>\n<p>Yet Hamas publicly rejected Iran\u2019s escort proposal, and a new poll by the  Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 43  percent of Palestinians ranked Turkey as their No. 1  foreign supporter,  as opposed to just 6 percent for Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Turkey has a strong hand here. Many leading Arab intellectuals have   fretted over being caught between Iran\u2019s revolutionary Shiism and Saudi   Arabia\u2019s austere and politically ineffectual Wahhabism. They now hope   that a more liberal and enlightened Turkish Sunni Islam \u2014 reminiscent of   past Ottoman glory \u2014 can lead the Arab world out of its mire.<\/p>\n<p>You can get a sense of just how attractive Turkey\u2019s leadership is  among  the Arab masses by reading the flood of recent negative articles  about  Ankara in the government-owned newspapers of the Arab states.  This  coverage impugns Mr. Erdogan\u2019s motives, claiming he is latching on  to  the Palestinian issue because he is weak domestically, and  dismisses  Turkey\u2019s ability to bring leadership to this quintessential  \u201cArab  cause.\u201d They reek of panic over a new rival.<\/p>\n<p>Turkey also gained from its failed effort, alongside Brazil, to  hammer  out a new deal on Iran\u2019s nuclear program. The Muslim world  appreciated  Turkey\u2019s standing up to the United States, and in the end  Iran ended up <span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/06\/10\/world\/middleeast\/10sanctions.html\">with  nothing but more  United Nations sanctions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In taking hold of the Palestinian card, Prime Minister Erdogan has   potentially positioned Turkey as the central interlocutor between the   Islamic\/Arab world and Israel and the West, and been rewarded with   tumultuous demonstrations lauding him in Ankara and Istanbul. Meanwhile,   the streets of Tehran have been notably silent, with Mr. Ahmadinejad\u2019s   regime worried about public unrest during the one-year anniversary of   last summer\u2019s fraudulent elections.<\/p>\n<p>Prime Minister Erdogan has many qualities that will help him gain the   confidence of the Arab masses. He is not only a devout Sunni, but also   the democratically elected leader of a dynamic and modern Muslim  country  with membership in the G-20 and NATO. His nation is already a  major  tourist and investment destination for Arabs, and the Middle East  has  long been flooded with Turkish products, from agriculture to TV   programming.<\/p>\n<p>With Turkey capturing the hearts, minds and wallets of Arabs, Iran  will  increasingly find it harder to carry out its agenda of  destabilizing the  region and the globe. For Americans, it may be hard  to see the  blessings in a rift with a longtime ally. But even if  Turkey\u2019s interests  no longer fully align with ours, there is much to be  gained from a  Westernized, prosperous and democratic nation becoming  the  standard-bearer of the Islamic world.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Elliot Hen-Tov is a doctoral candidate and Bernard Haykel a   professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Op-Ed Contributors Turkey\u2019s Gain Is Iran\u2019s Loss By ELLIOT HEN-TOV and BERNARD HAYKEL Published: June 18, 2010 Princeton, N.J. SINCE Israel\u2019s deadly raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara last month, it\u2019s been assumed that Iran would be the major beneficiary of the wave of global anti-Israeli sentiment. But things seem to be playing out [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":85896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[3044],"class_list":["post-20034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-turkey","tag-mavi-marmara"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}