Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is conducting contacts with leaders in the region regarding stopping the escalation in Gaza, but with an incompetence in his stance compared to what he did in the past in terms of verbal attacks on Israel and support for Hamas, in direct connection with the change in Turkish interests and Erdogan’s bets.

This comes at a time when observers say that Erdogan today has become a ghost of the aggressive Erdogan who was turning the world around in victory for Hamas and Gaza, and that the matter is related to changing interests, calculations and alignments before the new escalation in Gaza.

In contrast to the previous noise that Erdogan made by criticizing Israeli policies, his current speech has become calm, since the meeting between him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

The change that occurred in Erdogan’s speech can be included in the context of the declines that occurred after the severe economic crisis that Turkey experienced in recent years due to Erdogan’s hostile stances that affected the regional environment and cost the Turkish economy heavy losses.

Under the weight of the economic crisis, Erdogan seeks to contain the losses and restore relations with the countries of the region without slogans and outbids, including with Israel, which Turkey needs on more than one front.

In addition to the old and new economic and military interests with Israel, Erdogan wants to establish a close relationship with Netanyahu and his right-wing alliance in order to secure Israeli approval to allow Turkey to play an important role in transporting Eastern Mediterranean gas through its territory, and not through any other country, which is what he indicated. Erdogan on more than one occasion.

After his meeting with Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly, Erdogan said, “We will begin energy exploration with Israel, and we will begin operating energy transmission lines not only to Turkey but also to Europe.”

In contrast to the speed of rapprochement with Israel according to relations based on interests, the Turkish president doubled his distance from Hamas and the Sunni political Islam movements on which he had bet for years as part of a plan to stabilize Turkey’s influence in the Middle East after the Arab Spring. But that stage is over for Erdogan.

It was clear that Hamas, which returned to the axis of Iran, Hezbollah, and Syria, avoided directing criticism of Erdogan’s turn towards Israel, in contrast to its campaigns against Arab countries that had established relations with Israel within the path of peace witnessed in the region, the most recent of which was the criticism directed at Saudi Arabia.

Observers say that Erdogan is dealing with the crisis from the same pragmatic perspective with which he has dealt with all other issues, including the Palestinian issue. Whenever there were propaganda or political benefits, he spoke enthusiastically about them, and at the same time he often adopted a conciliatory and conciliatory stance with the same parties with whom he was engaged in verbal confrontations, when economic circumstances called for it.

Erdogan responded to the harsh Israeli response to the Hamas attack with statements based on generalizations that equated Hamas with Israel. Such as his saying, “Based on the principle of ‘there is no loser in a just peace’, we call on all active parties to assume their responsibility to bring about peace.”

Erdogan later proposed that Turkey undertake mediation efforts for a ceasefire, but Israel completely ignored him.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, in a telephone call with the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, discussed the possibility of releasing the hostages held by the movement in the Gaza Strip, according to what his office said Monday.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Fidan discussed by telephone with Haniyeh “the latest developments in Palestine and the possibility of releasing detained civilians.”

The Turkish presidency said on Tuesday that Erdogan informed British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in a phone call, that Western countries must refrain from provocative steps regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that Western powers must not deny the unfulfilled promises to Palestine and do what is necessary. In this regard.

While Iran appears to be a bigger player, in terms of the role it is believed to be playing in supporting the Hamas movement, Erdogan held a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Ibrahim Raisi, to discuss developments in the situation in the Gaza Strip.

Followers of Turkish politics note that Erdogan appears to be in the position of abandoning Hamas, which he was keen to show his support for, given the intellectual closeness between the movement and the Justice and Development Party that he leads.

The Turkish Anatolia Agency reported that the two presidents discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the escalating tension in the region, and the steps that must be taken to reach a solution.

It is noteworthy that Turkey was the first Islamic country to recognize Israel in 1949. Despite the fluctuations in the relationship between the two parties during the years of Erdogan’s rule starting in 2003, trade, diplomatic and military relations remained strong between the two countries.

According to the Turkish Foreign Minister, trade exchanges between Turkey and Israel recorded more than 8 billion dollars last year, and the number of Israeli tourists visiting Turkey exceeds 600,000 annually, which made Israeli tourism ranked fourth among the nationalities most flocking to Turkey.

But all of this did not prevent Erdogan, in previous circumstances, from adopting a rhetoric that appeared to be hard-line toward Israel and inwardly tended toward cooperation.

The Turkish President did not reveal a clear mediation plan. Turkish media avoided mentioning any previous relations between Turkey and Hamas.

Observers say that Erdogan has surrendered to the idea that the Gaza war represents a political gain for Iran and an increasingly severe loss for Turkey’s position in the region, but it is closer to a “desirable” loss, because the costs of solidarity with Hamas and provoking Israel’s anger will be prohibitive for him. While Iran has nothing to lose by adopting enthusiastic positions towards Hamas, Erdogan has a lot to lose if he appears to be siding with Hamas, while Israel feels that its very existence has become threatened,

This first appeared on alarab-co-uk