The New Year Quote by Recep Tayyip Erdogan

“Obvious” is doing a lot of political work here. Erdogan frames the Arab-Israeli dispute not as one crisis among many, but as the master switch for regional trust: get it “on a resolution track,” and the wider Middle East confidence deficit starts to lift. It’s a tidy causal story, and that tidiness is the point. By presenting it as self-evident, he tries to turn a contentious thesis into baseline common sense, positioning dissent as either naïve or cynical.

The language is managerial and deliberately indirect. “Resolution track” sounds like process, not pressure; it flatters diplomats who believe in roadmaps and summits, while avoiding concrete commitments that could alienate either Israel, Palestinian factions, or Erdogan’s own nationalist base. “Confidence problem” is also a strategic softening. It recasts geopolitical rivalry, occupation, and violence into a psychological deficit that can be treated with the right sequence of negotiations. That abstraction allows Erdogan to speak as a regional statesman above the fray, even as Turkey’s interests are very much in it.

Context matters: Erdogan has long used the Palestinian cause to claim moral leadership in the Muslim world and to needle Western capitals, especially when relations with Israel and the US are tense. The subtext is a pitch for relevance. If the dispute is the key to regional “confidence,” then any power that can influence that track (Turkey included) deserves a seat at every consequential table. It’s less a diagnosis than a bid to be indispensable.