Turkey's Perception Gap

Late Thursday night, Turkey did not manage to win a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the years 2015-2016. Despite heavy lobbying, Turkey lost out to Spain. In the final round of voting, the Spaniards secured 132 votes while Turkey could gain only 60.
Six years ago, Turkey was more successful and won the prestigious UN seat for the years 2009-2010 by obtaining 151 votes. At the time, then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan considered winning the seat as a reflection of Turkey's increasing weight in international politics and the confidence the international community had in Turkey. So what does Thursday's defeat mean?
The easy way out would be to say that winning a second seat within a time span of six years was quite a challenge from the start. Besides, beating Spain would always be difficult, keeping in mind the fact that all European and Latin American countries would favor the Spaniards over the Turks. And, well, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, so no reason to be extremely worried about this week's loss.
Unfortunately for Turkey, that is not the way the rest of the world looks at it.
Newsweek called it a “tremendous upset” and Foreign Policy a “humbling defeat for a country that aspires to a role as a global leader.” In looking for reasons that could explain Turkey's failure, the two leading American magazines came up with some interesting findings that should set off some alarm bells in Ankara. Both Newsweek and Foreign Policy quoted diplomatic sources referring to an intense campaign by Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States against Turkey's membership in the council. These countries are angered by Ankara's unconditional support for the Muslim Brotherhood, seen by both Cairo and Riyadh as one of their main enemies. They are also furious about Turkey's unwillingness to fully back the military coalition against the jihadists of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
It seems that, with Turkey still dragging its feet on its participation in the war against ISIL, the timing of the vote at the UN could not have been worse.
On top of the resentment against Turkey in the Arab world, diplomats in New York also mentioned the fact that several Western countries are alarmed by recent reports of Turkish attacks on Kurds willing to fight ISIL in Syria. The New York Times tried to explain Turkey's surprise defeat by underlining the worries in European countries about what they see as Turkey's insufficient crackdown on foreign fighters traveling through Turkey to join extremist groups in Syria.
Optimists may say these are all temporary hiccups that could be overcome quickly once Turkey finally takes sides and is, again, seen as a constructive and reliable partner in the fight against terrorism in the Middle East.
I am afraid, however, that the UN vote reflects a much more basic erosion of Turkey's international standing. The loss of 91 votes between 2008 and 2014 cannot only be explained by the current controversies over Kobani and ISIL.
In 2008, Erdoğan was right. Turkey was indeed seen by many as a rising power, a country on its way to becoming a member of the EU and a full-fledged democracy, exercising a positive influence in the region. Nowadays, Turkey is perceived by most foreign observers as an extremely polarized country backtracking on its democratic credentials, ambivalent about its commitment to the EU and acting as a dividing force in many of the region's current conflicts. Why vote in favor of such a country joining the UN Security Council?
The reaction by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu after the vote is another indication of the gap between Turkey's self-perception and its image abroad. He said: “There may be some countries disturbed by our principled stance, and there have always been those who, after some time, confess that Turkey's position was right. So, we would not abandon our principles for the sake of getting more votes.”
It is the typical reaction of a representative of a country that is insistent on being right all the time, not being able to notice that others have a fundamentally different appreciation of its acts and opinions. Not really an attitude that will make you many friends.

JOOST LAGENDIJK (Cihan/Today's Zaman)