Israel, Egypt deny Turkish role in resolving Gaza conflict
Israel and Egypt have accused Turkey and Qatar of sabotaging efforts to reach a cease-fire in Gaza so they could then present themselves as mediators.
The Israeli ground offensive launched on the night of July 17 against Gaza has killed any chance that Turkey and Qatar will be involved in high-wire Middle Eastern diplomacy, as might have been the case previously, in the effort to draft a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Turkey and Qatar at one point constituted an axis of regional diplomacy that also proved to be effective in resolving the problem of selecting a president in Lebanon in 2008, ultimately resulting in Michel Suleiman becoming that country's 16th president following a months-long deadlock. The process of restraining Iran’s policies and Ankara presenting itself as a counterweight to Tehran in 2008 signaled the emergence of Turkey as a regional player projecting soft power, in contrast to its traditional image associated more with militant “Prussian” stereotypes than a benign and benevolent actor.
One of Turkey's most striking diplomatic achievements was to cut a deal between Israel and Syria in 2008 for the resumption of bilateral talks. Israel’s notorious Operation Cast Lead against Gaza (from December 27, 2008 to January 18, 2009), which took more than 1,000 lives, ended Turkey's string of successes. Turkish-Israeli relations suffered after that and were further damaged by the May 2009 Mavi Marmara incident that cost the lives of Turkish nationals off the coast of Gaza. The deterioration of Turkish-Israeli relations was then followed by the disruption of relations between Ankara and Damascus in the wake of the turmoil that engulfed Syria after March 2011. Bilateral relations quickly devolved into adversity and hostility after the fall of that year. Ankara-Baghdad relations also shared the same ultimate fate.
The defining moment sealing Turkey’s diplomatic isolation in the Middle East arrived with the removal of Mohammed Morsi from the Egyptian presidency and the Muslim Brotherhood from power in July 2013 in a coup led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. While Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had been staunch supporters of Morsi and the Brotherhood’s removal, the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been vocal in refusing to recognize the legitimacy of Egypt's new power configuration.
The events in Egypt not only saw a seemingly irreconcilable Turkish-Egyptian rift develop, but also inflicted considerable damage on Turkey’s standing in the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf. Only Qatar remained close to Turkey, but the Turkey-Qatar axis lost its former diplomatic appeal. With the 10-day air-war between Israel and Hamas, however, there emerged a faint possibility for a revival of a role for the axis. After Israel's acceptance and Hamas' rejection of an Egyptian proposal, the idea of Turkey and Qatar playing a role in a long-lasting cease-fire was floated. From a realistic point of view it did not sound particularly plausible, and the Israeli ground offensive made it impossible.
