Turkey’s tarnish – Why the Islamic democracy rocked ties with Israel and the
West
fBy Dr/. Robert O. Freedman – Baltimore Jewish Times, July 2, 2010
Turkey’s tarnish – Why the Islamic democracy rocked ties with Israel and the
West
fBy Dr/. Robert O. Freedman – Baltimore Jewish Times, July 2, 2010
“In the case of Israel and Turkey, initially there were both common
interests and common values when the relationship between the two countr ies
reached its zenith in the late 1990s, as both countries opposed Syria and
were the only genuine democracies in the authoritarian Middle East. In the
last decade, however, and especially since the coming to power of the
Islamic AKP (Justice and Development) Party in 2002, relations between the
two countries have deteriorated as their common interests disappeared, and
Turkey was transformed from a secularist democracy to an increasingly
intolerant Islamic state.
Indeed, the future of the Turkish-Israeli relationship appears to depend
upon whether the AKP is again victorious in next year’s Turkish election.
How did we come to this point?”