BY BERIL DEDEOGLU
STAR- The wives of the Lebanese, Libya, Syrian, Qatari, Azeri, Jordanian and Pakistani leaders came to Turkey as the guest of Emine Erdogan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's wife. Of course, the aim of these women wasn't only traveling. The wives of a great many political figures who are very important for the Middle East came to take a stand on the Palestinian issue. It's hard to remember any similar previous initiative, but I don't think this will be forgotten, because the women are the wives of state leaders working to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but they don't represent the state.
According to the majority of those countries, Israel is using disproportionate force in its Gaza operations. In other words, most of these countries don't object to establishing strategic and military relations with Israel, and even favor such ties. On the contrary, these countries have such a social structure that they can't stay silent about harm suffered by Muslim nations. There are also concerns that the same countries' Israeli policies could strengthen radical groups, which might in turn carry out terrorist attacks both against the ruling parties in their own countries and the entire world.
Nobody can guarantee that Israel's operation in Gaza won't spread to its close neighbors such as Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, and that this situation won't cause a new power struggle which might extend to Pakistan, Azerbaijan and even North Africa. So there's no guarantee that more women and children and civilians won't die both in Gaza and other places. Thus the humanitarian dimensions of the problem could pave the way for future problems.
The leaders' wives started an initiative to draw public attention to these terrible conditions. Obviously, the difficulties of being women and mothers are exacerbated during war, and it's also important for women outside of war to recognize this. Moreover, the special situation of these women showing their humanitarian sensitivity makes it possible to see the issue through a political lens. This way, the activities carried out by representatives of the state through official channels are supported by a less official channel thanks to their wives. In other words, while the men continue state diplomacy, the women carry out public diplomacy. The leaders aim directly at decision-makers, but their wives do this indirectly.
I wish that wives of the leaders of non-majority Muslim countries were also involved in such initiatives. For example, if women from India or Sweden could have participated, then it would have been stressed that the people dying in Gaza aren't just Muslims, but also humans, civilians, women and children. As it stands, the effect of this initiative could be blunted. Nevertheless, this is an important initiative and I hope it will be expanded and maintained."