Since the start of Operation Iron Swords, the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement has been gaining momentum worldwide. In Lebanon, it called for a boycott of Pepsi because the company’s new logo resembles Israel’s flag too closely. The BDS movement targeted McDonald’s for offering discounts to IDF soldiers, leading to significant economic losses in the wake of the war. Meanwhile, the city of Sydney could be tearing up contracts targeted by BDS. Turkey is no exception to this global trend, with the BDS movement also gaining traction there. The list goes on and on.
In Turkey, one of the BDS movement’s main targets is Azerbaijan’s alleged supply of oil to Israel via the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already issued a trade embargo on Israel, BDS alleges that he has continued to respect the right of his strategic ally, Azerbaijan, to use Turkish ports to transport oil to Israel. The BDS movement in Turkey would like to see this come to an end.
Recently, Iran recruited proxies who are part of the “Thousand Youths for Palestine” organization to attack the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic’s (SOCAR) office in Istanbul. The pro-Iranian hooligans, some of whom wore keffiyehs, sprayed red paint on the building of the SOCAR office, while about a dozen people attempted to break in. At about the same time, students at Istanbul’s prestigious Galatasaray University also protested against a speech by a senior SOCAR executive, accusing the company of having blood on its hands.
SOCAR denies selling crude oil to Israel
In response, SOCAR released the following statement: “SOCAR Türkiye and its group of companies have been attacked by provocateurs on social media and through physical actions amid recent geopolitical changes in the region. These groups post provocative messages on social media, making baseless accusations that we sell crude oil to Israel, while also attacking our company’s buildings, endangering our employees’ safety.”
They continued: “The ongoing provocations at our Istanbul headquarters on March 12, May 29, May 31, and June 2, as well as at the Bursagaz office in Bursa on May 24, pose a significant threat to our employees’ safety. SOCAR operates under international business agreements, and the claim that SOCAR currently sells crude oil to Israel is unfounded and misleading. The global oil market involves trading companies, and suppliers cannot control or interfere with where their crude oil goes. SOCAR, like other oil companies, trades its products through trading relationships with relevant companies.”
Meanwhile, protests by “A Thousand Youths for Palestine” against Azerbaijani oil continue. The fact that the Turkish authorities have arrested some of the protesters has caused some in the country to question Erdogan’s pro-Palestinian credentials, which is exactly what this pro-Iranian proxy aims to do. They want Erdogan’s base of supporters to be outraged that their president allegedly made an exception for Azerbaijani oil and that the Turkish leader still enjoys a positive friendship with Baku to the detriment of Tehran.
Fortunately, most Turks do not care about the BDS movement these days. Turkey is facing a grave economic crisis that has caused the AKP to lose the local elections last March. Most Turks are suffering because of the lira’s plight and, therefore, are against anything that would harm Turkey economically. As a result, these Iranian proxies are unlikely to sway the majority of Turks. However, this situation is likely to stir up the more radical elements among Erdogan’s supporters, potentially encouraging them to distance themselves from the Turkish leader.
The protesters are also seeking to harm the strong strategic relationship between Turkey and Azerbaijan because they understand that if these two Turkic countries stand united against Tehran, it will be a major blow to Iran’s hegemony in the Middle East region. Turkey has a lot of influence in Syria, as well as among the Turks of Northern Iraq. This positions them to challenge Iranian dominance in both countries as the successor state to the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
IN THE Palestinian street, Turkey and Iran often compete for influence over who is the greater champion of the Palestinian cause. By having the BDS movement target Erdogan inside of Turkey, the pro-Iranian proxies hope to challenge his pro-Palestinian credentials, especially at a time when one of the mothers of a protester lambasted Erdogan for arresting her son for “defending Palestine,” and a video showing her making this statement has been dominating Turkish social media in recent days.
If Turkey succeeds in replacing Iran by influencing developments in the Palestinian Authority, Syria, and Iraq, this – together with an alliance with an expanded Azerbaijan, which just liberated a lot of land from Iran’s ally, Armenia – would significantly weaken Iran in the Middle East, especially if Iranian Azerbaijan manages to separate from Iran together with the Turkmen who are presently living under the mullahs’ tyranny.
Azerbaijan’s late president, Heydar Aliyev, once stated that Azerbaijan and Turkey are “one nation, two states.” This shared bond has the potential to make both countries formidable, thereby undermining the Shia Crescent. It is in the interest of the Iranians to break this bond, which is why the BDS movement is now targeting the Azerbaijani oil sector in Turkey.
The writer is a prominent Middle East scholar and commentator.