After Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Saturday for 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 politics expert Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak dismissed the likelihood 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 Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University.“For several years now, Erdogan has emphasized the importance of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC),” Yanarocak said. “It’s no secret that they want to make this organization more influential. Their vision primarily focuses on joint decision-making by the entire Muslim world, aimed at implementing a united agenda. Of course, Erdogan consistently uses Gaza as an issue that should be addressed. This doesn’t surprise me at all.”
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 from Iran or Pakistan. Turkey also has its own foreign policy and wants to use the OIC to increase the political pressure it desires. I don’t think this is feasible because Muslim nations don’t view things from the same perspective.”Regarding Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a human rights activist with both American and Turkish citizenship who was killed near Nablus, Yanarocak said, “The shooting of the Turkish civilian in Nablus is significant because she had American citizenship, and she was born in Turkey, so she’s also Turkish. Erdogan is using this incident in his speech to rally against the IDF. It’s just more fuel for the fire.”