As it stands now Gaza is a small region with no close ties to any of its neighbors. Even Palestinians of the West Bank and the diaspora find no rush to find common ground with the enclave.
The Egyptians do not want it. The Israelis just want it to stop attacking them and then somehow get on with being self sufficient.
And even in the broad outline I have given on the success of a greatly enhanced Arab country in the region, combining Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinians and other potential nation states, somehow Gaza just seems to be the one example of a region that will never join such a union. Too many years of ever expanding hatred and differing political views and tactics.
Into this I step forward and suggest that Turkey offer, and Gaza vote to accept joining Turkey as their 82nd province.
As a province of Turkey, Gaza would come under the defensive shield of the NATO member country. The Turkish armed forces and regional police could go a long way towards stopping any further attacks on Israel.
In the same token, for Turkey to be able to establish large military installations in Gaza to project a presence in the Southeast of the Mediterranean would be a given. As a full fledged and long standing member of NATO this is something the other NATO members would be hard pressed to deny.
To have such a presence in Gaza would be a major mental boost to the people of Gaza who have been in a sense locked up for all these many years.
The current political climate in Turkey is much in tune with the political aspirations of Hamas and others in Gaza. For those in Gaza who are of different political ideals the multi party system of Turkey would also find favor with them.
With Gaza becoming the 82nd province of Turkey, the ability for massive infrastructure and other economic benefits could begin almost before the ink dried on any annexation documents.
It is also Turkey's regional might that would ensure the fair and equitable distribution of offshore gas and oil blocks to the newly expanded off shore economic zone for Turkey.
There would of course be the one major stumbling block to this in that the people of Gaza speak Arabic for the most part while the Turkic language is at home in Turkey. Just as the people of Gaza have learned Hebrew or English or French in the past for economic and educational advancement, so too would a shift to a bilingual Arab/Turkish province.
The most valuable asset that such an idea would bring to the region is the ability to greatly expand the possibilities of success in any future Israeli/Palestinian negotiations. With a Gaza with a new mission, a new direction, a newly found great leap forward economically and mentally, their concerns of either Israel or other Palestinians might fall quickly by the wayside.
As has been shown in the recent days and months of recent, Gaza has no better long term ally than Turkey. Even much more so than Syria or Iran.
For Turkey to annex Gaza and negate the powers of Syria and Iran on Israels western borders by a member of NATO can only find quick and positive response from the people of Israel.
For Turkey to have such an enclave on the southern Mediterranean shores would have no end to the enhancement of Turkey on the world stage. This both in terms of their ability to bring peace to a portion of the decades old regional conflict as well as being part of what could be a very large oil and gas bonanza off shore.
Someone in authority in Turkey or Gaza needs to have this idea brought to their attention and debate begun at once.
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