Category: Israel

Kerry’s Request of Turkey May Boost Role as Mediator – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu leave after a joint news conference at Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, April 7, 2013. (photo by REUTERS/Murad Sezer )

By: Mensur Akgun Translated from Haberturk (Turkey).

US Secretary of State John Kerry, during his weekend visit to Istanbul, asked his counterparts to persuade Hamas to opt for peace, according to an April 8 headline in the daily Milliyet.

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

Summary :

Turkey can play a critical role on Israeli-Palestinian issues through its good relations with Hamas, but Mensur Akgun wonders whether it should do so.

Publisher: Haberturk (Turkey)

Original Title:

To Be Made a Mediator is Not a Favor

Author: Mensur Akgun

First Published: April 9, 2013

Posted on: April 15 2013

Translated by: Timur Goksel

Categories : Turkey Israel Palestinian Authority

If this really was the focus of the visit (that is, if Milliyet’s editors did not run this item on the front page just because it would appear exciting), then the report written by Asli Aydintasbas is important. It could mean that the US will be placing a greater priority on the Palestinian issue than on Syria. This could mean that Washington will move to resolve the Palestine issue in the shadow of the Syrian crisis and put its weight on diplomacy involving Palestine instead of intervening in Syria.

It is not easy to predict what implications this would have for the region and Turkey. Obviously, the US wants Turkey’s support in solving the Palestine issue by using its influence in the region, especially with Hamas.

If Turkey wants to, it can really use its influence. Since the 2009 Davos affair there has been a tremendous sympathy for Turkey in Gaza. The Mavi Marmara flotilla incident and the way Turkey handled reconciliation with Israel has only added to this sympathy.

When necessary, Turkey can convert this sympathy shown in Gaza to political clout and use it toward unification of the two Palestines. The recent victory of Khaled Meshaal over Ismail Haniyeh for the Hamas leadership further strengthened hopes for reconciliation and unification. Also, the US decision to work toward resolving the Palestinian issue after 10 years of no meaningful action will empower Turkey and other regional actors who seek a solution. This also will provide them with further tools of persuasion.

It is now understood that long-dormant Arab peace efforts will be reactivated by the second Obama administration and by the winds of the change in the Arab world.

The US seems to be sincere in wanting to solve the problem and to prevent further destabilization of the region. But is Netanyahu prepared to put an end to the expansion of Jewish settlements and halt new ones? Or will he act as he did Nov. 14 by putting Hamas leaders amenable to a solution on Israel’s target list and shoot them to pieces with its unmanned aerial vehicles?

Will Israel do to Khaled Meshaal what it did to Ahmed Jabari by killing him with missiles in his car? If you ask me, there is no reason for Turkey to become a mediator without getting answers to these questions.

The US has to prove to the region and to the world that it can persuade Israel, that it will not surrender to Israel and that it will not stand idly by when [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu comes to Washington and makes statements embarrassing [President Barack] Obama.

Of course Turkey and Israel should reconcile and normalize their relations. Ambassadors should be appointed, trade ties should increase and there should be more community contacts. A two-state solution should be backed; Hamas and Fatah should be assisted in reconciling with help from Qatar and Egypt.

But, without getting meaningful US guarantees and making sure that such guarantees are robust, Turkey should not agree to be a mediator, to be a facilitator to bring the two sides together for peace, to be a front-runner, and use up its credibility in the Arab world when it is not convinced of Israel’s sincerity.

As much as we need that credibility, so does the region and Israel. That is why we have to be careful in using up that credit. Turkey should not disappoint Hamas and, more important, the Arab world.

Turkey doesn’t need the label of a mediator or a facilitator as some tend to think. What is important for Turkey is the stability of the region and its own political standing. It was not easy to achieve this standing. It should not be squandered.

Moreover, we can’t tolerate another period of tension like December 2008 when relations with Israel hit rock bottom. We cannot bear another crisis.

The cost of Israeli opportunism will be too high for everyone at a time when the Arab world is experiencing strong tremors. None of us would like to pay that cost, including the US.

via Kerry’s Request of Turkey May Boost Role as Mediator – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.

April 16, 2013
‘Turkey first state with ambassador to Palestine’

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer

Turkey’s consul general to the Palestinian Authority has presented his credentials to PA President Mahmoud Abbas and will become the first ambassador recognized by Palestine, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported on Monday.

The move comes after the Palestinian upgrade to non-member observer state at the UN General Assembly in November.

Turkey was one of a large majority of states which recognized the PA’s status upgrade at the United Nations.

Şakir Torunlar, who has served as the consul general in Jerusalem, which provides consular services for Turkish citizens in the West Bank and Gaza, will be the new Turkish Ambassador to Palestine, according to the report.

The move came weeks after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s apology to Turkey for operational errors committed that may have led to a loss of life on the Mavi Marmara in May 2010. Nine Turks were killed when Israel Navy commandos, trying to keep the ship from breaking the blockade of the Gaza Strip, were attacked by those on board.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to visit the Gaza Strip for the first time at the end of May, Hurriyet reported on Monday.

Herb Keinon contributed to this report.

via ‘Turkey first state with ambassador to Palestine’ | JPost | Israel News.

April 16, 2013
Despite Israel’s apology, Turkey not normalizing ties

Despite Israel’s apology, Turkey not normalizing ties

NATO planned to invite foreign ministers from Mediterranean countries, including Israel and six Arab states, but Turkey nixes Israeli participation • Erdoğan: Turkey will not send an envoy to Tel Aviv before Israel lifts its naval blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Eli Leon and Israel Hayom Staff

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. | Photo credit: AP

Despite the Israeli apology for the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, Turkey said it objects to meeting Israeli diplomats at the upcoming Mediterranean Dialogue group, in which Israel was supposed to have participated for the first time since 2008.

In addition, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Saturday that Turkey will not send an envoy to Israel as part of a recent move for normalization of ties before Israel lifts its naval blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Erdoğan reiterated Turkey’s stance on the issue and said Israel should lift the blockade before full restoration of diplomatic ties, Turkish newspaper Sunday Zaman reported.

According to the Turkish daily Hurriyet, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the 12th and current secretary-general of NATO, planned to invite the foreign ministers from Mediterranean countries, including from Israel and six Arab states, but Turkey has objected, arguing that “it wasn’t the right time” for such a meeting.

“The general-secretary was planning to invite the foreign ministers of the Mediterranean Dialogue countries on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers meeting scheduled for April 23 but Turkey objected to the idea,” a Western diplomatic source told Hürriyet on the condition of anonymity.

A Turkish official told Hurriyet that “at this stage, such a meeting would not be useful.”

According to the newspaper, the official also said that Egypt and Tunisia, two members of the Mediterranean Dialogue, did not want to hold such meeting at this stage either.

NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue was initiated in 1994 by the North Atlantic Council. It currently involves seven non-NATO countries in the Mediterranean region: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.

According to Hurriyet, Turkey has been having a tough time normalizing relations with Israel since the relatives of slain Turkish activists still appear defiant about continuing their lawsuits against senior Israeli officials, with one even declaring that he would hand his compensation money from Israel to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The dropping of legal cases against Israeli officials was one of the core conditions that Israel demanded from Turkey as part of the apology deal.

via Israel Hayom | Despite Israel’s apology, Turkey not normalizing ties.

April 15, 2013
Turkey opts out of NATO talks with Israel

By TOVAH LAZAROFF

Tunisia, Egypt also reportedly dismissed potential meeting; group intended to discuss security in region has not met since 2008.

Erdogan visits Egypt Photo: AMR ABDALAH DALSH / REUTERS

Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt rejected plans to hold a meeting of NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue group, Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reported on Saturday. Israel is one of the Dialogue group’s seven member-nations.

The Mediterranean Dialogue group for Foreign Ministers – which also includes Algeria, Jordan, Mauritania and Morocco – has not met since 2008, according to Hurriyet.

A Turkish official told Hurriyet that the meetings had not been held because of political problems between Israel and Arab member-nations.

Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office had no comment.

News that Turkey was among the countries that nixed the meeting comes as Jerusalem and Ankara struggle to reestablish diplomatic relations.

Ties between Israel and Turkey were severed in 2010 after the IDF raided the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara and killed nine Turkish activists.

Last month, at the end of US President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu apologized to Turkey for the deaths.

Turkey, in turn, agreed to reestablish diplomatic ties.

However, it then asked Israel to delay sending a delegation to Turkey to discuss issues relating to the restoring of diplomatic relations.

The delegation, which had been scheduled to leave for Ankara at the start of the month, is now scheduled to depart on April 22.

via Turkey opts out of NATO talks with Israel | JPost | Israel News.

April 14, 2013
What does an Israel-Turkey Awakening Mean for Mediterranean Gas?

After nearly three years of tension, Israel’s olive branch to Turkey in late March was welcome news to most of the Eastern Mediterranean, not to mention Washington. With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offering an apology for Israeli actions against a Turkish aid flotilla in 2010, it seemed possible we might see some cohesion on the region’s roster of current challenges. Announcing a full resumption of diplomatic ties, the two governments opened the door to an assortment of possible joint efforts, including how to deal with a beleaguered Syria and a new Egypt. However, what stood out for many was what it all would mean for the region’s energy options.
Location of the Eastern Mediterranean (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
After years of fruitless exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean, Israel hit upon billions in potential revenue and energy independence in 2009 with the discovery of one of the largest offshore finds in a decade. Since then, the country has rushed to exploit the reserves with the help of foreign partners, including Texas’s Noble Energy, in hopes of bringing in an estimated $80 billion over the coming years. However, while Israeli gas efforts officially started flowing during the final days of March, the challenge of just how to transport the product to worthwhile markets like Europe remains a challenge. Sure they’d explored alterative options, including a Cyrus-Greece line or LNG plants. But with Turkey eager to get involved in a gas bonanza they’d previously only watched from the sidelines and with the economic stability to back up their plans, Israel’s surest best now seems to rest in Ankara.

So, with Israel and Turkey now willing to talk and plan for the future, where does this leave poor Cyprus? Always willing to play the cautiously neutral middleman as its neighbors laid claims to the region’s newfound gas fortunes, the partial island nation is finding itself newly isolated in the push to cash in on the region’s gas riches.

This could not come at a worse time for Cyprus. Over the last few weeks, the country’s fiscal situation has gone from bad to worse as a push for a financial bailout package ended with a series of missteps that dashed any remaining confidence in the country’s economy. In addition to nearly destroying the country’s bloated banking system, the experience left them in a weaker position when it comes to developing their offshore claims.

Cypriot leaders, including newly elected Prime Minister Nicos Anastasiades have insisted that gas revenues be left alone when it comes to dealing with the country’s current crisis. In order to avoid selling off the country’s future wealth in a panic to ensure a quick bailout or loans, gas revenue would be kept separate and not be considered until production efforts really started bringing in revenue, which they expect as early as 2018 or 2019. Even during recent negotiations to secure funding to fend off a collapse of their banking system and restructure a Russian loan, Cyprus balked at the idea of exchanging support for exploration and production rights to their offshore claims.

However, as the dust has now settled and the reality of the country’s path towards economic recovery has become a little more clear – long and difficult – the ability to hold off on potential gas revenue has become much more difficult. Even with financial support pledged from Europe and the IMF, Cyprus may likely soon have to appeal for further support to stay afloat. Keeping gas off the table during those discussions may soon become impossible.

In a more immediate, logistical sense, Cyprus’s role in exporting gas out of the region and to Europe has become a lot more difficult in terms of being able to pay to play. With an economy in tatters and investor confidence in the dumps, its unclear just how the country’s leaders plan to support their own energy infrastructure development, much less taking part in regional efforts linking the Eastern Mediterranean with more eager markets. Israel may have floated early partnerships when offshore gas first became a reality, but given Nicosia’s current financial standing,

Here, it appears is where Turkey enters the picture. While Cyprus will be struggling to find ways to meet even basic spending needs, Turkey has shifted billions towards infrastructure projects in recent years.

For now, Cyprus has pledged to push on with or without regional partnerships they explored over the last year. Also working with Noble Energy, Cyprus lays claim to an estimated 60 trillion cubic feet of offshore gas reserves, which they hope will start flowing within the next few years. While they intend to move on alone if they have to, moving the gas out of Cyprus may prove challenging or at the very least, very expensive. Early proposals include building a pipeline to Cyprus where Liquefied Natural Gas plants could process the reserves for transport to the rest of Europe, though such an effort would cost an estimated $13.3 billion. For a country that just barely nailed down a bailout package worth about as much, this is not an easy task.

via What does an Israel-Turkey Awakening Mean for Mediterranean Gas? – Forbes.

April 12, 2013
Are Israel and Turkey friends again?

Turkey will not alter its hawkish stance, yet Israel needs Turkey as a strategic partner. But not at any price.

Billboards put up in Ankara to thank Erdogan for getting Israel to apologize for Marmara incident. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas

For many years, the relationship between Israel and Turkey has been extremely good. The close cooperation between the countries has been reflected in diplomatic relations, tourism, military cooperation and security, including joint military maneuvers and extensive defense trade.

Behind the scenes, there has also been cooperation in the intelligence field. However, Operation Cast Lead brought about a dramatic change.

Immediately thereafter, relations began to deteriorate as a result of initiatives carried out by Turkey’s leadership, supposedly in response to Israeli violence against Palestinians. In reality, however, it was only an excuse Turkey used to cover up its aspiration to become an influential player in the Muslim world.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gradually began taking more and more extreme positions and speaking out strongly against Israeli policy. The peak came when the Mavi Marmara flotilla attempted to enter Israeli waters and the IDF used force to stop it. Turkey recalled its ambassador, diplomatic ties were cut off and joint military training was canceled. There was a total disconnect between the countries.

Erdogan needed to cut ties with Israel, and to weaken Turkey’s secular military, so that he could strengthen his position in the eyes of his Muslim constituents. He was also interested in positioning Turkey as a regional leader. To do so, Turkey had to constantly become more radical to keep up with Iran and Syria. Turkey’s demand that Israel apologize for the Marmara incident, and Israel’s refusal to do so, was the excuse Erdogan used to become even more extreme.

There are a number of ramifications to the cutting off of security cooperation between Turkey and Israel.

The defense industry took the hardest hit. Israeli exports to Turkey, including potential orders which were canceled as a result of the crisis, reached hundreds of millions of dollars. And the commercial relationship Israel had with Turkey was not limited to defense. Commercial, nonmilitary cooperation was also seriously hit. Numerous projects, including upgrading Turkish tanks in Israel, were canceled. Sensitive technological systems that had previously been sold to Turkey were exported in much smaller quantities. Large Israeli companies such as Elbit Systems, ELTA Systems, Elbit Systems Electro-optics – Elop and Israel Aerospace Industries were hit the hardest.

The IDF’s operational readiness was also affected.

Throughout the years, the IDF had benefitted from joint sea, land and air exercises with the Turkish military. In addition, they jointly planned operations that were carried out in distant locations, strengthened cooperation with NATO countries and practiced scenarios that could only be carried out with Turkish assistance.

The rupture led to an end to joint maneuvers for which the IDF had no suitable alternative.

The third area that was affected was intelligence.

Valuable security information regarding technology and intelligence had been transferred between the two countries over the years. This trade of information was the basis for the trust that had been forged. To a large extent, this was a prerequisite for Israel to achieve its goals. As relations with Turkey deteriorated, however, the fear that sensitive security information might find its way to hostile or even enemy countries grew. Security agreements were canceled and the alienation intensified.

Non-military commercial and legal interests were also hit. Following the cut in relations, there was a steep fall in the number of Israeli tourists who visited Turkey. Numerous lawsuits were submitted in Turkey against Israeli individuals and senior officers, which limited their movement outside Israel.

In recent months, there has been a change in the Turkish leadership. Erdogan realized that if Turkey wishes to be considered a regional power bridging East and West, and to remain on good terms with the US, then it would need to be more moderate.

At the same time, Syria, Turkey’s neighbor to the south, is falling into chaos, which could put Turkey in danger. Therefore, Erdogan has softened his tone and the atmosphere has become more relaxed. Turkey’s goals have not changed, and it is still maneuvering in an effort to gain status and power in the regional Arab leadership.

However, its need to remain close to the US and Europe requires that it watch its step.

The Turks received the apology they asked for, and the ambassadors will probably be reinstated. Smiles may replace the angry faces, and defense cooperation might even return to some extent. But the trend has not really changed. Turkey must continue to walk on the thin line between its desire to lead the predominately Muslim Middle East, and its need to please the West and retain its image as a moderate country.

We in Israel are sitting right on that thin line. Apologies like the one Netanyahu gave Erdogan are apparently necessary to keep the thin line from breaking. But the future holds many more difficulties in the relationship between the two countries. Turkey will not alter its hawkish stance, yet Israel needs Turkey as a strategic partner. But not at any price.

The writer is a former brigadier-general who served as a division head in the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). The original article appeared in Hebrew in Sof Hashavua.

Translated by Hannah Hochner.

via Are Israel and Turkey friends again? | JPost | Israel News.

April 12, 2013