If diplomacy played out on a theatre stage, Turkey would have been lauded for its supporting actor role to Egypt and Qatar in negotiations over ending the two-year long Gaza conflict.
But at the 11th hour, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his closest confidants walked downstage.
“Turkey's principled foreign policy, built on values, ensures that it stands out as a reliable and reputable country in the world,” a senior Turkish official told The National of the country’s renewed public involvement in the peace process.
Turkey is preparing to participate in an international force tasked with securing Gaza and training Palestinian police forces, Turkish Defence Ministry sources said on Thursday.
“Work on the task force is being carried out in co-ordination with the relevant institutions of our state,” officials said in remarks to journalists. “The Turkish Armed Forces are ready to undertake any task entrusted to them within the framework of international law, for the establishment and maintenance of peace.”
Meanwhile, an 81-member team of specialists from the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) is in Egypt, awaiting Israeli authorisation to enter Gaza and help in search and recovery operations, a Turkish official told AFP news agency on Friday.
The Turkish team's mission includes locating both Palestinian and Israeli bodies, including hostages believed to be buried or hidden in collapsed structures, the official added.
"Initially, Israel preferred to work with a Qatari team, but we are hopeful that our delegation will be granted access soon," the official said.
Hamas is obliged to hand over the remains as part of the ceasefire agreement, and delays threaten the process. But the group has said it is having trouble accessing the remains due to the widespread devastation across Gaza.
Long-time Turkish leader Mr Erdogan sat next to US President Donald Trump at a meeting last month, at which Mr Trump presented his 20-point plan to end the war. Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin met with Hamas, Egyptian and Qatari officials in Cairo and Doha, as the mediators convinced Hamas to accept the agreement’s first stage, involving a ceasefire and the release of living and dead Israeli hostages.
At a summit in Sharm El Sheikh on Monday, Mr Erdogan was one of four signatories, alongside Mr Trump, President Sisi of Egypt and Sheikh Tamim, the Emir of Qatar, of a regional stabilisation pledge that adds an extra layer of commitment to the ceasefire plan – although its unclear language leaves a lot of room for varying interpretations.
At the same time, Turkey has already started to publicise details of its contribution to boosting aid supplies reaching Gaza, burnishing its reputation as a provider for and protector of Palestinians.
President Erdogan said Turkey could send containers to replace tents in time for winter in the war-ravaged territory, and on Tuesday a ship carrying 900 tonnes of supplies left the Mediterranean port city of Mersin en route to Egypt for delivery to Gaza.
Deteriorating ties
Relations between Turkey and Israel, which had begun to flower, have nosedived over the course of the Gaza war, and any room for the countries' two governments to openly negotiate disappeared.
Mr Erdogan appears to acknowledge that while Arab and Muslim nations can steer Hamas, the onus is on Washington to co-ordinate with Israel in future stages of the process, as trust between both sides remains at rock bottom.
“I believe that the actors with influence over Israel, especially the United States, will continue to do what is necessary,” he said this week.
Israel has grown increasingly angry about acerbic comments from Turkish politicians – Mr Erdogan has traded barbs with senior Israeli officials on social media, and has likened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler. It also has long-standing concerns over what it sees as Turkey’s permissive attitude to Hamas: unlike the Nato member’s Western allies, Turkey views it as a Palestinian liberation group rather than a terrorist organisation.
In turn, Mr Erdogan’s team, furious at the scale of the killing and destruction in Gaza, have grown more and more vociferously opposed to Israel, and ceased trade and direct flights with the country last year. While senior Turkish officials continued to meet quietly with Hamas leaders, the US, Egypt and Qatar were the central players in mediating the previous ceasefire, in January.
In Israel, there is scepticism over the idea of troops from a country that has thrown its weight behind Hamas being responsible for security in Gaza.
“Israel will attach critical importance to whether Hamas is being disarmed and Gaza demilitarised, or whether Hamas capabilities are being covertly reconstituted,” Jeremy Issacharoff, a former senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official, told The National. “The Turkish role and overall efforts in this respect will be closely monitored by Israel.”
Turkey could still play a positive role, Mr Issacharoff added. But in his view, that would require Ankara to find ways to lessen the friction with Israel that has resulted from its acerbic rhetoric.
“Another positive factor for Israelis could be a distinct Turkish role in ensuring and persuading Hamas to return all of the deceased hostages to Israel in accordance with the first phase of the plan,” he added. “This would also demonstrate goodwill that would be appreciated by Israelis.”
The warm relations between Presidents Trump and Erdogan have been a factor in propelling Turkey to the forefront of Trump’s peace plan, observers believe. “He’s always there when I need him, he’s such a tough guy, he’s as tough as you can be – but we love him,” President Trump said of his Turkish counterpart in his speech at the Sharm El Sheikh summit.
Having been shunned by the Biden administration, Mr Erdogan was welcomed back to the White House on an official visit last month. Although the visit did not result in the sealing of any of the major commercial deals Turkey had been hoping for, Mr Trump makes no secret of his liking for leaders with similarly conservative, authoritarian leadership styles.
He also sees Mr Erdogan as a useful conduit in ending conflicts in which Turkey has more leverage than the US, including in Ukraine, where US efforts have so far failed to yield peace. Now, Mr Trump is bringing Turkey back to the foreground in ending the Gaza war. Mr Erdogan's “personal relationships and reputation” with both Mr Trump and regional leaders “influence the process”, the senior Turkish official said.
Turkey also has reasons relating to its own security for wanting to ensure the conflict’s end. Israel’s strike last month on Hamas officials in Qatar highlighted the spectre of Israeli attacks on the group’s interests in Turkey too, where senior members frequently visit and are widely believed to own property.
In private, Western, regional and Turkish officials believe that Israel wants to attack Hamas in Turkey, although it feels cautious about openly claiming attacks on a Nato member and would likely opt for covert assassinations. With such actions still a possibility, curbing the regional fallout of the Gaza conflict is foremost in Turkey's mind.
Peace in Gaza may not fully allay their concerns about Israel's ability to strike Hamas targets elsewhere in the region. Pro-government commentators in Turkey are pushing for closer regional security co-operation.
“A security pact should be signed and a powerful bloc formed to ensure stability and security in the Middle East,” Nebi Mis, an analyst with the pro-Turkish government Seta think tank, wrote this week.
Much of what is to come remains unclear. But there is still “no clarity” on many of the mechanics, the senior Turkish official admitted, as negotiations over coming stages of the peace agreement of the process continue.
