After Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called on Muslim nations to unite against the “threat of Israeli expansion” in the Middle East, claiming that Israel aims to conquer countries in the region, Turkish political expert Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak ruled out the possibility of such a union.
Dr. Yanarocak, born and raised in Turkey, is an expert on Turkish politics, Turkey-Israel relations, and is a researcher at the Dayan Center for Middle East and African Studies at Tel Aviv University.
“For several years, Erdogan has emphasized the importance of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC),” Yanarocak said. “It is no secret that they want to make this organization more influential. Their vision is primarily focused on joint decision-making by the entire Muslim world, with the aim of implementing a united agenda. Of course, Erdogan always uses Gaza as a problem that needs to be addressed. This does not surprise me at all.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint statement to the media in Baghdad, Iraq, April 22, 2024. (credit: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)
The Islamic world remains divided
Dr. Yanarocak continued, “With all due respect, and there is respect, there are very deep divisions within the Muslim world. We know well that the OIC typically makes symbolic decisions and each Muslim country has different interests. For example, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have different interests than Iran or Pakistan. Turkey also has its own foreign policy and wants to use the OIC to increase the political pressure it wants. I do not think this is feasible because Muslim nations do not see things from the same perspective.”
Regarding Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a human rights activist with both US and Turkish citizenship who was killed near Nablus, Yanarocak said: “The shooting of the Turkish civilian in Nablus is significant because she had US citizenship and was born in Turkey, so she is also Turkish. Erdogan is using this incident in his speech to protest against the IDF. It is just more fuel for the fire.”
