NEW YORK September 23, 2011–
The Turkish prime minister’s address to the U.N. General Assembly was the most important event for us on Thursday.
We are Turks, we take these things seriously. We want to be proud of those who speak on behalf of Turkey.
Until his speech the only scandalous figure of the day was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s head of state. As expected he burst out against United States and Israel. The rest used vague sentences, delivering speeches full of lies and hypocrisy. We were bored to death.
By the time Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his delegation entered the General Assembly, we realized that the torture of listening to others was ending and Turkey’s show was beginning.
The prime minister’s voice was slightly trembling when he started talking. It did not last long. His voice started to rise and by the end we saw Erdoğan, the one who speaks at party group meetings in Parliament every Tuesday.
Those present in the General Assembly started to realized that there was someone different talking about different things.
It was a strong speech. It had a substance. It was well prepared. It was apparent that the Foreign Ministry had prepared a draft that had resonance.
At one stage, Erdoğan stopped reading from the document and started to improvise. There could be a road accident at any time. Thank God this did not last long and the prime minister resumed reading from the document.
It was wise for him to put the tragedy in Somalia in the spotlight and put emphasis on it more than others. He defined the U.N.’s position as a disgrace. He did not hold his tongue. He condemned the former colonies (European countries) that have exploited the country. “This has nothing to do with humanity,” he said.
The message was clear: You help the countries in which you have interests, or change governments in some others. But you ignore thousands of Somalians who die because they cannot find a piece of bread.”
He was more of an envoy for Somalia than the Somali government.
Just as U.S President Obama stated his unconditional support for Israel in that podium, Erdoğan stated his unconditional support for Palestine. He said Turkey’s current active policy will not change unless Israel lifts the blockade.
I was struck by the fact that he did not touch upon terror events while his speech covered a lot of issues from Libya to Somalia to Cyprus.
At the end of 30 minutes he stepped down from the podium to applause mostly from the Turkish delegation and Turkish invitees. A long queue formed to congratulate him and that made him happy.
I met him at the exit. “At the beginning your voice trembled, you were exited, I guess?” I told him.
He laughed. “No, our speech was like a diesel engine,” he said.
He said it was like an engine that is slow to start but opens up as it heats up.
Turks in the General Assembly were proud of that speech.
Looking out for Arab leaders in the General Assembly
While Prime Minister Erdoğan addressed the U.N. General Assembly, I looked to see who was present from other countries.
I was especially looking for Palestinian head of state Mahmoud Abbas and the leaders of some Arab countries. I am sure most had some other appointments. Yet it is usually known who will speak at what time in the U.N.
If the leader of a country who said he would “support you to the end,” if that person has changed his or her general attitude in a dramatic way and if it he or she the leader of a country like Turkey, which has the appeal to both the Arab streets and the Palestinian people, than the minimum courtesy required would be to go to the General Assembly and listen to him speak.
None of them was there and this shows us some realities.
The Arab people like us. But today, the policies of current rulers of the Arab countries are based on competing with each other and hampering each other. We should not take those who are giving us a pat on the shoulder too serious. Our politics should reflect our interests. There should be no room for emotions.
In the end I understood that I was looking for Abbas and other Arab leaders in vain.
© 2011 Hurriyet Daily News
URL: www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=arab-leaders-absent-while-erdogan-talks-to-un-2011-09-23