Regardless of where they are, whichever region they live, Muslims share the same fate. Not only do Muslims have a common fate; their fate is also common with the other communities with which they live together. None of them have the chance to build a future by disregarding other communities– for example, the Turk cannot disregard the Arab, the Arab the Persian, all of these the Kurds, Circassians, Berbers, etc. However, this is not enough. It is not possible to build a future in this region before knowing and understanding the Yazidis, Melkites, the Druse in Syria and Lebanon, the Maronites, the Copts in Egypt and many other ethnic-religious and sectarian groups, and without seeing them as people who share the same fate.
Those who have been wanting to establish sovereignty in the Middle East, Africa and even in Central Asia for the last two centuries established their plan on ruining this common fate. They protected one group while provoking the other against it. They weakened one while they armed the other and pit them against one another. The most important source they used in doing this has been knowledge. Those who discovered the power of knowledge first gained individual and in-depth knowledge about communities that have common regional, religious and cultural values. They studied the way these communities live, their beliefs, lineage, tribes and even the types of horses they use. These communities became paradoxically estranged from one another, and by choosing conflict instead of solidarity, they lost the right to determine their own fate.
The common point of all the problems in the Middle East is Palestine and the key to world peace is the Jerusalem issue. Looking at our accretion of knowledge on this topic, you can guess how close we are to or how far we are from solving this problem. Don’t bother yourself too much, I will tell you. Despite all the efforts made and the time put into this, we are still far from the solution. Of course, the double standard imposed by the international system, political and economic impositions have a great role in this. Undoubtedly, the political initiative assumed by Turkey in the recent years and every step it has taken have provided important contributions. But let us not fool ourselves. Our Palestine policy still needs to be equipped with knowledge. Because this is not a matter than can be solved through valor and travel alone.
In my last article, as I was evaluating the decisions taken in the last emergency Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) state heads’ meeting, I had written that there were matters in the decisions taken that enforce and bind Turkey. Allow me to elaborate the matter a little more here. Turkey does not look at the Palestine issue in terms of its threatening Israel’s regional security alone – it can’t. As the successor of the last legitimate state in the region before Israel, Turkey has historical as well as moral and humanitarian responsibilities resulting from the common region, religion and culture. Thus, Turkey has been and still is the one to reach out to the Palestinians whenever they have been in a difficult situation. Launching an aid campaign for the Palestinians whose hands are tied, who have no economic lives, who have become dependent on Israel in production and even consumption, whose entire liberties are almost taken away with the loans given – in addition to the military siege – was prudent.
Meanwhile, more than an aid campaign is necessary to solve the Palestine issue. The greatest help that can be made to Palestine and Palestinians, who have been displaced and become refugees, whose ownership rights have been restricted in their own homeland, whose foundations which they inherited from history have been looted, would be to bring them together with their history. Turkey is the only one that will do this. The old settlement areas, villages, graves and as a matter of fact, the graveyards are no longer in the memories of the millions of refugees. Even the names of these places, which were burned down and destroyed, have been forgotten. In other words, the new generations of Palestinians whose grandfathers and fathers faced physical injustice, have also been mentally deprived with their forgotten history.
Yet, the documents, information, records and debts belonging to the old lands of Palestinians, provided during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s OIC summit speech and shown in – foreign – maps are available in Turkey’s archives. The Prime Ministry Ottoman Archive, the Land and Registry Cadastre archive and General Directorate for Foundations Archive hold hundreds of thousands of documents belonging to Palestine.
First, a virtual cadastre of Palestine and Ottoman Jerusalem should be prepared from the deed records in the Land Cadastre Archives using the geographical information system with a scientific method. The missing villages in Palestine, old settlement areas should be marked on the maps. All foundation records in the General Directorate for Foundations should be examined and similarly, their positions on the map should be determined.
Frankly, to date, the institutions in question prepared some publications from these documents. These efforts that more so showed the existence of the documents in their institution but were no remedy are far from contributing to the problem, from producing a scientific solution and showing Turkey’s justifiability and Palestinians’ rights. Similarly, the IRCICA, a unit of the OIC in Istanbul, and certain private institutions have also published some books and albums based on these documents.
It is sad that Turkey, who raises its voice the most with regard to Palestine, is one of the countries most behind in terms of information and publication. It is impossible to carry out an academic study, let alone even prepare a presentation without foreign publications, maps and albums, primarily those prepared in Israel. All sides, archives and universities are responsible for this result. Just as the signs that are hung, the centers established without staff and any opportunities, the meetings held on anniversaries cannot eliminate this responsibility, they are also far from offering a solution to the problem.
I am not even going to mention about the bureaucracy that prevents those who intend to carry out studies that will increase the accumulation of knowledge and reveal Turkey’s historical responsibility and rights in Jerusalem. I am also not going to mention the ongoing journey of the “Osmanlı Dönemi Filistin Yer Adları Kılavuzu” (Guide on Ottoman Era Palestine Place Names) and “Filistin Atlası” (Atlas of Palestine) that were completed two years ago under my coordination among institutions. The sole matter I am talking about is that it is only possible for Turkey, which has shouldered the responsibility with respect to Palestine, to continue its rightful claim with scientific productions. Turkey is obliged to do this.
