DEBATE: How Serious Is the Israeli-Turkish Rapprochement?
Dr. George N. Tzogopoulos
BESA, Aug. 5, 2020Israel and Turkey appear to be making progress in terms of rewarming their bilateral ties. Roey Gilad, Chargé d’Affaires at the Embassy of Israel in Turkey, published an article in Halimiz suggesting that the two countries could cooperate in Syria as well as in the fight against COVID-19. Other media outlets, including The Jerusalem Post, have also published stories on a potential rapprochement between the two states, though challenges and obstacles certainly remain.BESA joins the debate by posing the question: How serious is the Israeli-Turkish rapprochement?Respondents: Amikam Nachmani, Michael Harari, Defne Arslan, Anna Ahronheim, Can Cirnaz, Burak Bekdil, Mark Meirowitz, Gallia Lindenstrauss, Angelos AthanasopoulosProfessor Amikam Nachmani, Department of Political Studies, Bar-Ilan UniversityThe special relations between Turkey and Israel that lasted from the 1990s through the early 2000s were marked by open strategic cooperation and strong Israeli lobbying on Turkey’s behalf, mainly in the US but also among EU members. This open cooperation was dramatically different from the countries’ clandestine relations, which were often flatly denied by Turkey and euphemistically referred to by Israel as “mistress syndrome” relations.Future relations between the two countries will likely be quite different. Ankara does not need Israel to lobby on its behalf—it fares quite well without it, particularly in Washington. More significantly, the early 2000s saw Israelis grow increasingly reluctant to lobby for Turkey, and that reluctance became a crucial element in the crisis that eventually eroded bilateral relations. This decline was not a direct product of the Mavi Marmara crisis of June 2010, as it began well before that incident.
Relations between Israel and Turkey first began to deteriorate in 2004-05 following growing hesitation among Jewish lobbies to “explain” Turkish policy vis-à-vis the Armenian genocide to American media and decision makers. Ankara’s reaction to that reluctance represented a crossroads in Turkey-Israel relations. One could almost hear the sigh of relief in Turkey: at long last it could get rid of this awkward relationship. If Israel was no longer going to smooth Ankara’s path in Washington, there was no longer any need to maintain good relations with it.
Ankara’s view was that Jewish and Israeli lobbying for Turkey was a form of blackmail. For years, the Turkish regime preferred anti-Israeli policies to pro-Israel and had no real interest in close contacts with it. But because it needed Israeli and Jewish help, Turkey was forced to curtail its true anti-Israeli policies.
On March 2, 2009, Ardan Zenturk wrote the following in an article entitled “Will the US Turn Its Back on Turkey?” in the Star (emphases added):
Will the Obama administration declare Turkey a “committer of genocide” this April 24 (the anniversary of the Armenian genocide)? I don’t know. … [To read the full article, click the following LINK – Ed.]
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Israel-Turkey Relations Could be in for a Change – Analysis
Seth J. Frantzman
Jerusalem Post, May 23, 2020
A new Israeli foreign minister, Turkey’s battles in Idlib against the Iranian-backed Syrian regime and a convergence of necessity for dialogue in Syria and even the Mediterranean could point to a new leaf in Israel-Turkey relations after a decade of difficulties.
Israel’s Charge’ d’Affairs for Turkey, Roey Gilad, wrote a piece in Turkish media on Thursday that argues that the two countries have common interests.
Writing at Halimiz he noted that Iran’s presence in Syria works against Ankara’s interests and that Lebanese Hezbollah played a dominant part in the battle in Idlib where more than 50 Turkish soldiers lost their lives.
Evidence for this comes from foreign reports that “Israeli airplanes and drones are challenging Iranian military targets in Syria.”
Turkey and Israel do not have to agree on everything, he argued, there will remain many differences. COVID-19 and other challenges, however, might work in favor of normalizing relations.
This includes trade, tourism, energy and academic cooperation. “The ball is on the Turkish side,” he notes at the end, because it was Turkey that expelled Israel’s ambassador in May 2018 after violence in Gaza and the US moving the embassy to Jerusalem.
Israeli radio stations discussed the op-ed that Gilad penned and it appears there are some issues that underpin a possible change in relations.
Israel and Turkey once had excellent ties, the closest in the region. But things changed over time, especially after 2009. Turkey had played a key role in talks with Syria, but the Gaza war and subsequent clash between former Israeli president Shimon Peres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Davos, as well as a raft of other incidents from the Mavi Marmara to diplomatic spats, lead to a downward spiral in relations.
Israeli officials in October 2009 felt that formerly warm strategic ties had likely ended. Trade, which once numbered in the billions of dollars, continued, but much changed.
While once Israel sold Turkey Heron drones, Turkey built its own formidable drone force. Ankara pushed for a more assertive posture in the Mediterranean as Israel worked more closely with Greece and Cyprus on a pipeline deal that was signed in January. Public spats over Palestinian issues and Turkey’s conflicts with Kurds continued on social media.
Turkey has led opposition to US President Donald Trump’s policies, such as the embassy move and his Mideast peace deal. In December 2019, reports asserted that Hamas even plots attacks from Turkey. And there is the annual threat in Israel to recognize the Armenian genocide. … [To read the full article, click the following LINK – Ed.]
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Erdogan’s Neo-Ottoman Aspirations Inspire Islamists and Endanger World Peace
Hany Ghoraba
Algemeiner, Aug. 10, 2020
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s once hidden agenda of reviving a modern version of the Ottoman Empire is not so secret in light of recent moves. The world has watched Erdogan use draconian and oppressive methods to beat down domestic critics. The conversion of Hagia Sophia — formerly a Byzantine church — into a mosque last month was a symbolic step to inspire Islamists who are longing for a new caliphate. Erdogan’s state-controlled media are already calling for the Muslim world’s first superpower.
Erdogan’s recent military campaigns in the Middle East, especially in Iraq, Syria, and Libya, have been a source of instability and mayhem all across the Middle East, leaving thousands dead. Arab and European countries condemned Turkey’s military adventurism, while French President Emmanuel Macron labeled Ankara’s Libyan intervention as “criminal.”
But Islamists and terrorist affiliates cheered such moves. Last October, the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas issued a statement expressing its approval of Turkish military operations against Kurdish rebel groups in northeast Syria.
Support for Muslim Brotherhood affiliated regimes and governments characterized Erdogan’s earlier pan-Islamist policies. That included Turkey’s military support for Tripoli’s interim pro-Muslim Brotherhood government, and he is now intervening there militarily.
“I consider today that Turkey plays in Libya a dangerous game and is in breach of all its commitments,” President Macron said in June. Greek Prime Minister Kryiakos Mitsotakis denounced Turkey’s “aggressive behavior.” The EU threatened on July 18 to impose sanctions on parties breaking the UN arms embargo in Libya, without specifying a country.
But Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar struck a defiant tone: “Turkey will stay in Libya forever, it will not withdraw from it.”
Moreover, Erdogan openly supports Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia, and held military drills with the Azerbaijani army. Russia then conducted what it called “routine” military drills near Armenia’s border.
Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman caliphate ambitions are no longer a hidden political agenda, as he announced that his country is seeking to restore what he called the “Mavi Vatan,” or the “Blue Homeland.” This refers to the Turkish maritime domination during the Ottoman era in the East Mediterranean and Aegean Sea. The name provides Erdogan’s regime with a false nationalist casus belli to interfere militarily in countries around the region. … [To read the full article, click the following LINK – Ed.]
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The State Department has a Turkey Problem
Michael Rubin
Washington Examiner, Aug. 9, 2020
By any reasonable metric, Turkey is a rogue regime. Put aside the 46-year occupation of northern Cyprus with its ethnic cleansing and open theft of resources. Ignore also the ethnic cleansing of Turkey’s own Kurdish population. The world rightly condemned Syrian President Bashar Assad for his deliberate targeting of civilian neighborhoods in Aleppo, but the Turkish army did the same in Nusaybin, Cizre, and Sur.
Turkey’s track record of terror support
Instead, consider President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s broader record:
* Turkey apparently supplied weaponry to Boko Haram in Nigeria.
* He brushed aside the International Criminal Court indictment against Sudanese President Omar al Bashir and hundreds of thousands of dead in Darfur because “no Muslim could perpetrate a genocide,” a sentiment which also makes a mockery of the Armenian genocide.
* When al Qaeda briefly took over northern Mali, Ahmet Kavas, an Erdogan-appointee, defended al Qaeda.
* Erdogan not only embraced Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group fighting not only Israel but also the Palestinian Authority, but SADAT (a private Islamist paramilitary group run by one of his top former advisers) also allegedly helped the terrorist group launder money.
* Erdogan masterminded a scheme to allow Iran to bypass sanctions, exposed spies monitoring Iran’s nuclear program, and according to a Hamas representative, even met the late Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani in Ankara.
Turkey’s behavior vis-a-vis the Islamic State crossed the line into terror sponsorship. Erdogan not only enabled the group with logistical support, weaponry, and providing a safe haven, but leaked emails show his family also profited from it. For Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi to be found within 3 miles of the Turkish border in an area dominated by Turkish forces is as much evidence of Turkey’s double-game as discovering Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad was of Pakistan’s duplicity. … [To read the full article, click the following LINK – Ed.]
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For Further Reference:
Washington Must Address Turkey’s Rising Aggression Amid COVID-19: Amb. Eric Edelman and Gen Charles “Chuck” Wald, USAF (ret.), JINSA, July 20, 2020 –– Most of the headlines about COVID-19’s global upheaval focus on how adversaries like China have begun acting more belligerently against U.S. interests. But increasingly, Turkey, formally a NATO ally, is also taking advantage of the pandemic to expand its influence in very destabilizing ways across the Eastern Mediterranean, an area of growing importance to the United States.
Turkey Still a Major Hub for ISIS Militants, IG Report Says: John Vandivir, Stars and Stripes, Aug. 5, 2020 — Turkey continues to be a regional transit hub for the Islamic State group, even though the NATO ally has recently stepped up efforts to counter attempts to smuggle ISIS fighters and weaponry into war-torn Syria, a new Inspector General’s report says.
Reports Shed Light on Mercenaries, Terrorists Sent by Turkey to Libya: The Arab Weekly, July 18, 2020 — In a development that is bound to cause alarm in Tunisia and other North African nations, Turkey is reported to have dispatched to Libya during the last few months thousands of Islamic extremists, including 2,500 Tunisian ISIS members.
Turkish Aggression Is NATO’s ‘Elephant in the Room’: Steven Erlanger, NYTimes, Aug.3, 2020 — The warships were escorting a vessel suspected of smuggling weapons into Libya, violating a United Nations arms embargo.
The Battle of Hagia Sophia: Erdogan’s Conquest of the Turkish Republic: Aykan Erdemir, The National Interest, Aug. 9, 2020 — Turkey’s Islamist president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has a reputation for turning challenges into opportunities.
Israel Takes Greece’s Side in Maritime Standoff with Turkey: Lahav Arkov, Jerusalem Post, Aug. 12, 2020 — Israel voiced its support for Greece in their dispute with Turkey over economic zones in the eastern Mediterranean.
