TURKIYE- Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna comments on the Middle East issue. A summary of his column is as follows:
The Palestinian issue has entered a new period. In the new conditions of the second millennium, it is hard to estimate the situation’s future course. After a full week of Israeli attacks, it is perhaps more difficult to establish an independent Palestinian state now than it was before.
During recent meetings of the 20-plus member Arab League and the 60-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), nothing was achieved for the sake of an independent Palestine. It is obvious that certain Arab countries are trying to delay the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. More than 25 years ago, Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Palestine and let it open an office, which later became an embassy, in Ankara.
The Arab Union and countries such as Iran have not really concerned themselves with the tragedies in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Azerbaijan or the Cyprus issue, or the struggles for independence of the Turkic-speaking countries. The same thing can be said for the Palestinian issue.
Ultimately, the issue remains in the hands of the United States. No one can deny that former US President Bill Clinton, who sat at the top a country where the Jewish lobby is extremely strong, was sincerely eager to find a solution to the problem. He really wanted to bring peace to the Mideast before the end of his two terms. But it was not expected that his Republican successor would lean on Israel as much as Clinton did, expectations that have been borne out.
Today it is unclear whether Arafat’s era has ended or not. Reducing the tension is what is most urgently needed now. Israel must withdraw from the occupied lands, but we see no intention of that happening. Israel is pursuing terrorists city by city and house by house in Palestine. In reality, it wants to scare the Palestinians. However, one should remember the proverb that an animal is often most dangerous when it is pushed into a corner.
Since Israel is unable to absorb the Palestinian population, it wants greatly to move large numbers of them. Already four million Palestinians are living outside of Israel-Palestine, with two-and-a-half million of them in Jordan alone.
The United States doesn’t yet feel avenged for Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The name of the Osama bin Ladin, allegedly the terrorist who planned the attacks, has already dropped from the world’s agenda. In my opinion, Israel is trying to benefit from the world’s wave of revulsion against terrorism. The Israelis brought a ferocious ruler to power, but a moderate one will succeed him and create better conditions.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION