The target is not Qatar but Saudi Arabia

The isolation of Qatar that emerged from the decision of some of the Gulf countries in fact represents the precursor tremors of a great upheaval that is about to begin in the region. However, it is not possible to say that these tremors are under the control of one country, nor is it clear whom the outcome will serve. One difference between political engineering and physical engineering is that in the socio-political field there are many realities in the marketplace that do not match the calculations made at home.

Today there are far too many actors in the Middle East. Moreover, everyone has a plan of their own. In addition, the internal inconsistencies of the actors who have plans leave no ground on which engineering activity could be carried out. In this environment, those who dig their own foundation may expect their enemies to build a building upon that foundation. Or they may expect a structure brought to its final stage to be suddenly sabotaged by someone else... The US, which seeks help from one terrorist organization against another terrorist organization, quite apart from the sacrifices it makes for the sake of that terrorist organization, is doomed to have to deal tomorrow with the devastation that that terrorist organization will create.

In truth, it is not possible for the US today to put forward a consistent and strategic plan for the Middle East. Trump's boorish attitude, which gives the impression that he will recognize no rules and may even change everything from scratch, is increasingly being rendered ineffective by the resistance of institutions, lobbies and different forces in the US. For example, Trump's tweets on the Qatar matter, which said he was behind the affair and which gave the impression that it had been carried out with his own visa during his visit to Saudi Arabia, were nullified within a few hours by the US State Department. The Secretary of State, by saying that good relations with Qatar would continue, in a way announced that he was not behind this step of isolation.

The interesting thing is that news about the isolation of Qatar receives very little coverage in the US press. The reason is clear: the US is currently too preoccupied with its own problems to deal with any problem, the Middle East included. This alone is a sign of how much the countries of the region can trust the US as they make their calculations.

On the other hand, looking at the reasons announced for the isolation applied to Qatar, it can be said that these reasons will, above all, give more headaches to those who took this step. Because what those who accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism mean by terror is Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Yet whatever anyone may say about Hamas, the legitimacy of anyone who can label it terrorist disappears in the conscience of the world's Muslims. Hamas is the name of the most legitimate and just resistance against the occupation, in Jerusalem and the Palestinian lands under the Zionist Israeli occupation since 1947, and there is no place in the Muslim world for those who would characterize it in any way other than this. In fact, the Islamic countries that have not embraced the Palestinian cause as much as Hamas have an account to give to their own peoples and their history. This account can be paid to some extent through support for Hamas's noble resistance.

Qatar is one of the rare countries able to pay this account, and for this reason alone it is appreciated throughout the Islamic world, especially among its peoples. This being so, if accusing Qatar of supporting Hamas aims at winning the appreciation and support of the US, let it be known that from the US, which at present does not know what it is doing, no good will come to anyone, only harm. Moreover, the US, which openly supports the YPG/PYD-PKK terrorist organization, whose terror activities against Turkey, its own ally, are plain, cannot hold a position from which to accuse anyone of supporting terrorism. It appears that the US observes no law, especially toward its own allies. In this situation it is useful for everyone to ask, "Is the friendship or the enmity of the US less dangerous?"

In fact, what falls to the Islamic countries is to take countries outside themselves out of the equation while solving their own internal affairs. The Qatar matter is a matter that Muslim countries must resolve among themselves, and in our view this problem has been heated up in an environment aimed to a great extent at destabilizing the region further. In the end, it is a step that will bring no benefit to those who launched the campaign and may lead them too into greater instability.

TURKEY'S MEDIATION AND NEUTRALITY

Although it has very high-level relations with Qatar, Turkey tried from the start to put out the fire and volunteered for the role of mediator between the parties. One of the most important elements of stability in the region is Saudi Arabia, and Turkey has so far, despite its disagreements on many matters, tried not to make any statement that would bother it. As one will recall, the coup in Egypt was in fact the first step of the great instability we are living through today, and simultaneously with that coup, a coup was being prepared in Turkey with the Gezi incident. Saudi Arabia supported the coup in Egypt, but Turkey opposed it.

Nevertheless, Turkey tried not to spoil its relations with Saudi Arabia on the grounds that Saudi Arabia supported the Egyptian coup. Because even if it is on the wrong path in some of its policies, a threat that could be directed at Saudi Arabia would affect Turkey and the entire Islamic world more, and negatively. Therefore Turkey's relations with Saudi Arabia must always continue to be at the highest level, despite all their disputes. This is important for Turkey, for Saudi Arabia, and for the security, peace and quality of the entire Islamic world, because of the leading role both play.

Although Turkey volunteers for the role of mediator in the Gulf dispute, those who claim that it has taken a position siding with Qatar against Saudi Arabia are not acting in good faith. There is an asymmetrical alignment of sides, and what is to be done when one of the sides is about to destroy the other almost entirely? Once one side has been destroyed, there will in any case no longer be two sides to reconcile. Turkey is not the US, to sell out its own ally at the first opportunity. Turkey's friendship is real, and so is its enmity. It must never be forgotten that Turkey, by strongly and openly opposing the decision-making processes in the US that blamed Saudi Arabia for the September 11 attacks, confronted the US for the sake of Saudi Arabia. Turkey will continue to stand by Saudi Arabia when it is subjected to injustice, just as it stands by Qatar, which is subjected to injustice today.

In fact, by taking part in this campaign, which is unjust from beginning to end, Saudi Arabia is running a great risk whose outcome worries us too, and the greatest friendship and brotherhood we can show our friend and brother Saudi Arabia is to protect it against this risk.