Visiting Turkiye, Will U.S. Secretary Of State Blinken’s Agenda Match President Erdogan’s Agenda? Nearing 10:1 Ratio Have A Limit? Needed Daylight And Balance By U.S. Toward Israel?
Antony Blinken, United States Secretary Of State, Will Visit Ankara, Turkiye.
Will What He Has On His Agenda Be What Foreign Minister Fidan And President Erdogan Have On Their Agenda?
Key Focus: Does Nearing 10:1 Ratio Have A Limit?
From The United States Department of State (4 November 2023): “Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will travel to Tel Aviv, Israel; Amman, Jordan; Ankara, Türkiye; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, the Republic of Korea (ROK); and New Delhi, India November 2-10, 2023…. In Jordan and Türkiye, the Secretary will underscore the importance of protecting civilian lives in Israel and the Gaza Strip and our shared commitment to facilitating the increased, sustained delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, the resumption of essential services, and ensuring that Palestinians are not forcibly displaced outside of Gaza. He will also discuss urgent mechanisms to stem violence, calm rhetoric, reduce regional tensions, and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to working with partners to set the conditions necessary for a durable and sustainable peace in the Middle East, to include the establishment of a Palestinian state. In Türkiye, the Secretary will also discuss Euro-Atlantic security, ongoing support for Ukraine, and the need to maintain NATO Alliance unity, including ratifying Sweden’s NATO accession.”
What is known: Secretary Blinken will meet with Hakan Fidan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkiye.
What is unknown: If Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkiye (2014- ), will receive Secretary Blinken and in what meeting format- and will Secretary Blinken be delivering a message from Joseph Biden, 46th President of the United States.
Given the intensity of focus by the government of Turkiye upon the State of Israel-Hamas War and its impact upon the 2.3 million residents of Gaza, will the government of Turkiye believe appropriate for the visit of Secretary Blinken to discuss the ascension of the Kingdom of Sweden into the Brussels, Belgium-based North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which is not of immediate military significance- The Kingdom of Sweden does not share a land border with the Russian Federation.
NATO: United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Albania, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Greece, Slovenia, Hungary, Spain, Turkiye, Latvia, and North Macedonia. The 600-member Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkiye has yet to approve the ascension of the Kingdom of Sweden. The 199-member National Assembly of Hungary (Country Assembly) has yet to approve the ascension of the Kingdom of Sweden.
The ascension of the Kingdom of Sweden to NATO membership is not an immediate priority today for the government of Turkiye.
Nor is the Russian Federation-Ukraine War an immediate priority today for the government of Turkiye. The government of Turkiye continues to actively engage with both the government of the Russian Federation and Government of Ukraine, particularly upon the re-connection and re-alignment of the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI), release of confined individuals (military and civilian), and for a comprehensive end to the Russian Federation-Ukraine War.
However, what is happening to the 2.3 million residents of Gaza, who are primarily Muslim, is an immediate priority for the government of Turkiye and for the citizens of Turkiye. President Erdogan has a unique position from connectivity with leadership of Hamas, Hizballah, and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Secretary Blinken will certainly be seeking assistance from the government of Turkiye to use those relationships towards finding opportunities to end the State of Israel-Hamas War.
The government of Turkiye will be seeking from Secretary Blinken assistance (use of influence) for the 2.3 million residents of Gaza- including for the authorization of a hospital ship from Turkiye to be anchored off the coast of Gaza.
The government of Turkiye will also be asking who will be responsible for the reconstruction of Gaza after the withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces (IDF)? Given that the government of the State of Israel is responsible for the destruction, and has approximately US$200 billion in foreign reserves, should not the party responsible for the destruction be the responsible party for payment?
The government of Turkiye remains aware of the very visible limitations of influence by the Biden-Harris Administration (2021- ) with the government of the State of Israel despite the substantial commercial, economic, financial, political, and military connectivity by the government of the United States (US$3.8 billion annually in taxpayer-borrowed military assistance) and private sector within the United States with the State of Israel.
What Secretary Blinken has yet to demonstrate thus far is a commitment to the well-being of the 2.3 million residents of Gaza- meaning not just words but convincing the government of the State of Israel and the IDF to change its policies. That means, from the perspective of many countries having the government of the State of Israel do what it does not want to do.
From the perspective of many citizens in Muslim countries, there were approximately 1,400 residents of the State of Israel who were murdered on 7 October 2023. Since that date, nearing 10,000 residents of Gaza, civilians, with a majority women and children, have been murdered by the IDF.
Nearing quickly a 10 to 1 ratio… For every one (1) Jewish person murdered, there have been ten (10) Muslims murdered.
And what seems to be a continuing truth from the perspective of many in the Muslim community? The number of dead Muslim civilian men, women, and children in Gaza will continue to increase while the number of dead Jewish civilian men, women, and children in the State of Israel may not.
The challenge for Secretary Blinken: Convince the Muslim community that what is nearing a 10:1 ratio will have a limitation rather than be open-ended.
