Shortly after the horrific attacks by the Palestinian organization Hamas against Israel, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan named what he believed to be the cause of all tensions: “The Palestinian issue is the root of all problems in our region. As long as the issue is not resolved in a fair way, there will be no peace in the Middle East.”

According to the Turkish president, every possible effort should be made to avoid further tensions. According to Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey is undertaking diplomatic initiatives. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is in contact with his counterparts from Arab and Western states, while Erdogan himself is in contact with both Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. It should be noted that recently, Turkey and Israel found themselves on a path of rapprochement, despite Ankara’s earlier support for the Hamas organization.

Ankara has not clearly condemned the Hamas attacks

It remains unclear, however, whether President Erdogan could take on the role of mediator. Turkish political scientist Ilhan Uzgel rules out this possibility. Speaking on Turkish television, he declares that Erdogan in the last 20 years “has messed up”, in one way or another, with almost all the countries in the Near East: “For this reason, no country seeks contact with President Erdogan except and if he has no alternatives. Why, for example, would Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seek Erdogan’s mediation, when there is Egypt, which can exert much more influence on the Palestinians?” asks the political scientist.

In Turkey itself, however, after the Hamas attack on Israel, various groups took to the streets to express their support for the Palestinians. These are Islamic and partly Islamist groups. A small number of demonstrations were held in some Turkish cities. Officially, however, Ankara did not clearly condemn Hamas’s attack on Israel. In government announcements there are only general condemnations of the loss of life among civilians.

If Tayyip Erdoğan nevertheless managed to successfully mediate, as he did with the export of Ukrainian grain a few months ago, it would help the people in the Middle East and be a political success for him at the same time. However, the chances of success are not many, political scientist Ilhan Uzgel estimates: “In the Arab world, anyone who wants to increase their popularity announces that they are taking initiatives in favor of the Palestinians. This is what Saddam Hussein did, for example, by cultivating the image of the protector of the Palestinian people. The only politician who tries something similar after the then Iraqi president is today’s Tayyip Erdoğan.