Tag: Ehud Barak

  • Turkey: Spies Like Us

    Turkey: Spies Like Us

    TurkeySpiesLikeUS_CROPPEd

    A Turkish flag flutters near the monument of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 24, 2013 (Marko Djurica/Courtesy Reuters).

    by Steven A. Cook

    I co-authored this piece with my friend and colleague, Michael Koplow, author of the blog Ottomans and Zionists.

    Ehud Barak’s political instincts have never been great, but his security instincts are generally top-notch. So when he warned in 2010 that any intelligence information shared with Turkey might be passed on to Iran, his fears may not have been completely unfounded. David Ignatius reported yesterday that in 2012, Turkey deliberately blew the cover of ten Iranians who were working as Israeli agents and exposed their identities to the Iranian government. Ignatius also wrote that in the wake of the incident, which was obviously a large intelligence setback for efforts to halt Iran’s nuclear program, the United States did not protest directly to Turkey and instead walled off intelligence issues from broader policymaking.

    There are lots of questions that Ignatius’s report raises, and it will take some time to parse them out and figure out the answers. First and foremost is the report completely accurate? This is a very big deal if true, and it casts increasingly cool U.S. behavior toward Turkey over the past year in a more interesting light, yet it also makes it puzzling to figure out how something like this was kept quiet. Likewise, it is tough to see how and why the United States would separate intelligence issues from larger policy issues in the wake of such a huge betrayal of an important U.S. intelligence ally. Especially when such duplicity amounts to a purposeful blow to joint American-Israeli aims to slow down Iran’s nuclear program.

    Next, who are the sources for this story, and why leak the story now? If this new information came from the United States, then it indicates that someone has finally had it with Turkey turning a blind eye to (if not actively enabling) a growing al Qaeda presence in Syria, and anger over Turkey’s deal to buy a missile defense system from a Chinese firm already under sanctions rather than from NATO. The flip side to this is that if it is a U.S. government source fed up with Turkish behavior, it also does not cast the United States in a great light given the lack of an official reaction following Turkey’s exposure of Israeli intelligence assets. If the leak came from the Israeli side, then the timing is strange since there would have been little reason to hold this information until now, as Israeli-Turkish relations were at their absolute low point. The only plausible reason for Israel to leak this now would be if it came from someone who is disenchanted with Bibi Netanyahu’s efforts to patch things up with Turkey, as these allegations are deeply embarrassing in light of the Mavi Marmara apology.

    Questions aside, and assuming that the veracity of the report– and so far no American or Israeli official has publicly denied it – the bigger picture here is not the future of Israel-Turkey ties, but how the United States views Turkey. It is important to remember that from its earliest days the Obama administration sought to rebuild and strengthen ties with Ankara during a particularly difficult period that coincided with the American occupation of Iraq and the return of PKK terrorism. The Turks got a presidential visit and speech to the Grand National Assembly, Obama punted on his promise to recognize the Armenian genocide, and more broadly brought a new energy and urgency to a partnership that American officials hoped would work to achieve common goals in a swath of the globe from the Balkans to Central Asia.

    What started off well-enough quickly ran into trouble. By the spring of 2010, the Turks had negotiated a separate nuclear deal with Iran (and the Brazilians) that the administration claimed it had not authorized and voted against additional UN Security Council sanctions on Tehran.  Then the Mavi Marmara incident happened, further complicating Washington’s relations with both Ankara and Jerusalem.  A “reset” of sorts occurred on the sidelines of the September 2010 G-20 summit in Toronto with a meeting in which President Obama and Prime Minister Erdogan talked tough with each other and cleared the air, setting the stage for what Turkish officials like to describe as a “golden age” in relations.  Even so, despite the apparent mutual respect—even friendship—between President Obama and Prime Minister Erdogan, there was a sense that the Turks did not share interests and goals as much as advertised.  For example, there was Erdogan’s visit to Tehran in June 2010 when he implicitly justified Iran’s nuclear program. There were also difficult negotiations over a NATO early warning radar system on Turkish territory and after Ankara finally agreed, last minute needless wrangling over Israeli access to the data from the system .

    More recently, Turkey has spurned its NATO allies in order to build a missile defense system with China.  Ankara has also been enormously unhelpful on Syria, even working at cross-purposes against current U.S. aims.  The Turks have complicated efforts to solve the political crisis in Egypt by insisting that deposed President Mohammed Morsi be returned to office and thus only further destabilizing Egyptian politics.  In addition, these new revelations (along with ongoing efforts to get around sanctions on Iranian oil and gas) make it clear that Turkey has been actively assisting Iran in flouting American attempts to set back Iran’s nuclear capabilities. The state-owned Halk Bank was, until recently, involved in clearing financial transactions for Iranian counterparts, though Istanbul’s gold traders continue to do a robust business with Iran. And this all comes on top of the general fallout that has ensued as a result of Turkey doing everything in its power to take shots at Israel (which, no matter if some Turkish analysts want to argue that Ankara is more strategically valuable to the U.S. than Jerusalem, is a critical U.S. ally), whether it be absurdly blaming Israel for the coup in Egypt or preventing Israel from participating in NATO forums.

    Considering Turkey’s record, how can the Obama administration continue to tout Turkey as a “model partner” or even treat it as an ally? Not a single one of its goals for Turkey—anchoring Turkey in NATO and the West; advancing U.S. national security goals such as non-proliferation, counter-terrorism, and promoting democracy; and holding Turkey out a “model” of a secular democracy—have been met. Ignatius’s recent revelation, if true, undermine the first two goals. As for the third, Erdogan’s continuing harsh crackdown on protesters resulting from last summer’s Gezi Park demonstrations, pressure on journalists, efforts to intimidate civil society organizations, and other efforts to silence critics makes Turkey a negative example for countries struggling to build more just and open societies. We have crossed the line of reasonable disagreement and arrived at a point where Turkey is very clearly and very actively working to subvert American aims in the Middle East on a host of issues. That Erdogan and/or his intelligence chief, Hakan Fidan, were willing to undermine a broad Western effort to stop Iran’s nuclear development for no other reason than to stick it to Israel should be a wake-up call as to whether the current Turkish government can be trusted as a partner on anything.

  • The Israel-Turkey-Greece Triangle

    The Israel-Turkey-Greece Triangle

    Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak (L) and his Greek counterpart, Dimitris Avramopoulos, watch a military parade at the Defense Ministry in Athens, Jan. 10, 2012. (photo by REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis ) Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2013/03/israel-turkey-greece-relations-improve-gas-cooperation.html#ixzz2O9qvK1BW
    Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak (L) and his Greek counterpart, Dimitris Avramopoulos, watch a military parade at the Defense Ministry in Athens, Jan. 10, 2012. (photo by REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis )
    Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/israel-turkey-greece-relations-improve-gas-cooperation.html#ixzz2O9qvK1BW

    By: Jean-Loup Samaan for Al-Monitor

    Earlier this month, the navies of Israel, Greece and the United States gathered to conduct a two-week joint military exercise. This operation, named “Noble Dina,” was launched in 2011 and has since then been conducted each year. It can be seen as one of the various indicators that Israel and Greece are in the process of strengthening their bilateral ties. Indeed, for the last three years, both countries have moved closer to each other.

    About This Article

    Summary :

    Jean-Loup Samaan writes that the Israel-Turkey split is not really grounded in substance but rather in the personal ties of their leaders, and that a thaw may be in the works.

    Author: Jean-Loup Samaan

    It all started through various high-level visits at the level of presidents, prime ministers and defense ministers. In 2010, former Greek Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou visited Jerusalem and signed a cooperation memorandum. The following year, Israel defense Minister Ehud Barak and his Greek counterpart, Panos Beglitis, went further by passing a security cooperation agreement. Meanwhile, the Greek parliament approved the purchase of Israeli bomb-precision upgrade kits, which cost $155 million for 400 systems.

    The Israel-Greece rapprochement is not only visible in the military realm but also in other sectors such as tourism, culture, education and trade. Prior to the Papandreou visit of 2010, there were around 150,000 Israeli tourists each year coming to Greece. For 2012, they were estimated to reach 400,000. Furthermore, since late 2011, Israel has been working closely with Greece and Cyprus in the extraction of the newly found natural gas reserves in the Southeastern Mediterranean. The discovery of these reserves in the exclusive economic zones of Israel, Cyprus and Greece has generated a new area of cooperation for the three countries. Israeli Energy Minister Uzi Landau talked in 2010 of “an axis of Greece, Cyprus and Israel, and possibly more countries, which will offer an anchor of stability.”

    With regards to the gas reserves in the Mediterranean, this huge project is valued at 10 billion euros ($13 billion), so far mostly funded by Israel. Experts evaluate that it will take about six to seven years to complete. On the long haul, for Israel, Greece may become a hub through which it could transport and export gas supplies to Europe and the Balkans. This Israel-Greece-Cyprus initiative has logically triggered strong opposition from Turkey, which does not recognize the government in Nicosia and objects to the claims of the Greek Cypriot Administration over the gas reserves in the south of the island. Ankara responded by conducting air and sea military drills close to the area of the planned project and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu threatened that Turkey would take appropriate measures if the three countries were to go on with the project. This has been denounced by Israel as “gunboat diplomacy.”

    This is where the logic of Israel-Greece starts to unfold: this rapprochement clearly grew in earnest following the degradation of Israel-Turkey relations. The rift between Ankara and Jerusalem became palpable after Israel’s Cast Lead operation in the Gaza Strip in December 2008 and Prime Minister Erdogan’s strong condemnation of Israeli military adventurism. Turkey then decided to put a halt to its mediation efforts between Israel and Syria. The split got worse a year later with the crisis of the Mavi Marmara flotilla. On May 31, 2010, the Israeli military shot and killed nine Turkish citizens who were on board the “Freedom Flotilla” that was heading toward the Gaza Strip. Since then, political dialogue between both countries is in a deadlock, with Israel’s government refusing to apologize for the clash over the Turkish flotilla and the authorities of Turkey blocking not only bilateral cooperation but Israel-NATO cooperation as well.

    It is in this specific context that Israel-Greece relations have been improved. True, the Israelis and the Greeks emphasize that cooperation did not come out of the blue in 2010, that the first bilateral economic agreement was written in 1992 and the first military agreement in 1994 — in fact before the one between Israel and Turkey. Still, this move has all the features of a classic balance-of-power move by Israel vis-à-vis Turkey. Noticeably, the Greek-Israeli military exercises in the last years have taken place close to Turkish borders and, needless to say, they engendered major concerns in Ankara. This logic of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is not without embarrassment for the Greeks who want to see more than bitter politics in the rapprochement. In fact, it is in the interest of neither Greece nor Israel to confine their rapprochement to a move to counterbalance Turkey.

    Athens is not so keen on using its Israeli policy to antagonize Ankara: The new Greek prime minister, Antonis Samara visited Turkey this month to commit his country to the enhancement of the relationship with its historical rival. Specifically Samara, along with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan pledged to double their annual trade over the next three years.

    Meanwhile even though Israelis might have been tempted to use their Greek policy to counter Turkey’s strategy and to proclaim it as a long-term strategic realignment, decision makers are eventually aware that in no way can Greece provide them with the kind of strategic reach Turkey was providing. Not only is Greece enduring a financial crisis that is eroding its military capabilities, but it never had the type of leverage Turkey enjoys in the Middle East and that Israel crucially needs today.

    In fact, after three years of euphoria on the rapprochement with Greece, Israeli diplomats and officers are toning down the idea of geopolitical shift or the one of a zero-sum game. In reality, diplomats in Jerusalem and the military in Tel Aviv are eager to fix the partnership with Turkey. This reflects how the Israel-Turkey split is not really grounded in substance but rather in the personal relationship of its leaders.

    In the last months, there have been numerous signs that both countries may be in the process of restoring their political relations. Several high-level meetings have taken place, including the heads of intelligence in Cairo. Besides, far away from the political upheaval, bilateral trade did not really suffer and its volume is in fact at its highest level in history.

    All in all, this means that the speculation over Israel-Greece rapprochement should be treated with caution due to the strategic limitations of the bilateral relations as well as to the clear need of both countries to avoid portraying it as a zero-sum game vis-à-vis Turkey.

    Jean-Loup Samaan is a researcher in the Middle East Department of the NATO Defense College. His current research projects include the Israel-Hezbollah stand-off since the 2006 war, the Syrian civil war and its impact on the region as well as the evolution of regional security system in the Gulf.

    Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/israel-turkey-greece-relations-improve-gas-cooperation.html#ixzz2O9qWaVEV

  • Turkey Waltzes With Itself in Vienna

    Turkey Waltzes With Itself in Vienna

    By Goran Mijuk

    Vienna–It takes two to tango. But Turkey choose to waltz with itself at the World Policy Conference in Vienna, where political and industrial leaders stressed the need for increased partnerships around the globe.

    Emboldened by the country’s growing global economic importance and political levy in the fast-changing Arab world, Turkish President Abdullah Gül this weekend called for the European Union and United Nations to adapt to new realities.

    Embittered that talks to join the E.U. are being blocked by a number of countries, including France and Germany, Gül blamed the eurozone for having failed to play up to its own rules and called on the United Nations to reform its structure to reflect the growing importance of emerging economies.

     

    Turkey’s President Abdullah Gül makes a speech at the opening of the World Policy Conference at the historic Hofburg palace in Vienna December 9, 2011.
    Turkey’s President Abdullah Gül makes a speech at the opening of the World Policy Conference at the historic Hofburg palace in Vienna December 9, 2011.

     

    All but pointing to Turkey as a potential new member of a revamped U.N. Security Council, Mr. Gül also offered the country as a role model and “inspiriation” for the Arab world, touting Turkey’s tradition of religious freedom, secularism and openness, much in line with the high-flung visions traded at the Vienna meeting.

    Mr. Gül failed, however, to impress. Amr Moussa, former Secretary General of the League of Arab States and presidential candidate in Egypt, said at the meeting that Turkey won’t serve as a role model for the Arab world. Instead, he called for a new vision of democracy in countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

    Mr. Moussa defended the need for deep-rooted and serious change in the Arab world. But he invited Israel too to adapt to the new realities that are emerging out of the “Arab Spring”. Mr. Moussa stopped short of making concrete demands, in line with a cautious diplomatic tactic that tries to bring all interest to the negotiating table.

    Mr. Gül chose to be less diplomatic. Instead of joining a lunch with Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Friday and mend broken ties with the country, Turkey’s president took a stroll through Vienna and visited a mosque in the city.

    According to media reports, Mr. Gül also took precautions to avoid meeting Mr. Barak in person in Vienna. The Israeli Minister retorted by leaving the Hofburg conference hall when Mr. Gül started his lament on the poor state of the E.U. and U.N.

    Mr. Gül’s attitude can be explained by recent politics. Ties between the two countries have worsened ever since nine Turks were killed in 2010 when they tried to break Israel’s naval blockage of Gaza. Nothing has improved since as Israel has refused to officially apologize for the 2010 incident.

    But a potential role model should act differently. Mr. Gül’s criticism of the E.U. and the U.N. would have carried more weight had he taken the opportunity to talk to Mr. Barak, especially during an informal lunch behind closed doors.

    Instead of adding credibility to Turkey’s claim of being a modern, open society that plays up to global standards and even exceeds them in many aspects, Mr. Gül’s chose to waltz with himself, risking to step on many feet in the process.

    This is simple power politics, not inspiration.

    via Turkey Waltzes With Itself in Vienna – Emerging Europe Real Time – WSJ.

  • Barak on Turkey: Let’s put past behind us

    Barak on Turkey: Let’s put past behind us

    Defense minister says improving ties with Turkey is Israel’s priority, slams Palestinian UN bid

    Attila Somfalvi

    Published: 07.04.11, 17:55 / Israel News

    Defense Minister Ehud Barak Photo: Yaron Brener
    Defense Minister Ehud Barak Photo: Yaron Brener

    Defense Minister Ehud Barak hinted Monday that reconciliation with Turkey is drawing near, saying that Israel is very interested in “putting the past behind us.”

    “Turkey is a very important nation, one of four key nations in the region, besides Israel, of course,” Barak said during an Independence Faction meeting at the Knesset. “As our ties with the Saudis are strained, in fact we have no ties, our relationship with Iran is hostile, we have peaceful ties with Egypt but it is undergoing difficult changes – it is our priority to iron out the difficulties with Turkey.”

    Amid attempts to launch next Gaza flotilla, officials in Jerusalem, Ankara try to iron out differences, soften conclusions of Palmer committee on previous sail

    Addressing Turkish Prime Minster Recep Erdogan’s objections to Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip, Barak noted that “Israel implemented the siege; we did something that we had no other choice but doing. What happened, happened. We are interested in putting it behind us, and moving forward. Turkey remains an important nation in the Middle East.”

    ‘PA determined to go to UN’

    Barak also addressed during Monday’s meeting the Palestinians intention to declare statehood in the fall.

    “There are growing signs that the Palestinians are determined to turn to the UN General Assembly to gain recognition for a Palestinian state,” he said. “This issue creates a complicated reality for us ahead of September.

    “We are committed to the effort to convince the large nations of the world, primarily European nations, that the reason for the lack of progress in the negotiations is this Palestinian behavior,” he said.

    The defense minister also spoke about the charges pressed against Hezbollah members in connection with the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

     

    “The issue is shaking up Lebanon,” Barak said. “It is unclear whether the deeper currents behind the investigation will lead across the border, into Syria, into the government circles there.

     

    “It really shows us who we’re dealing with, who are the neighbors that we live amongst,” he said.

    via Barak on Turkey: Let’s put past behind us – Israel News, Ynetnews.

  • Turkey summons Israel envoy over Barak’s remarks

    Turkey summons Israel envoy over Barak’s remarks

    FidanAppointed in May, Fidan was previously a foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

    Turkey’s foreign ministry summoned Israeli ambassador to Turkey on Monday to express uneasiness over Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s remarks about Turkish intelligence chief, diplomats said on Tuesday.

    Ehud Barak, according to leaked media reports, at a meeting of his Labor Party expressed concerns over Hakan Fidan, the new chief of Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), saying Turkey could share Israeli intelligence secrets with Iran.

    In his “leaked” comments, Barak described Turkey as a “friend and major strategic ally”, however, he called Hakan Fidan a “friend of Iran”.

    “There are quite a few secrets of ours (entrusted to Turkey) and the thought that they could become open to the Iranians over the next several months, let’s say, is quite disturbing,” Barak said in his speech broadcast by the Israeli Army Radio.

    Turkish Foreign Ministry diplomats voiced Turkey’s displeasure of Barak’s remarks at a meeting with Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Gaby Levy, sources said, Anadolu news agency reported.

    Appointed in May, Fidan was previously a foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

    According to Reuters news agency, political sources in Ankara said that Fidan, a former envoy to the U.N. nuclear watchdog, was also involved in a Turkish- and Brazilian-brokered deal on Iran nuclear programme.

    Israel attacked Syria in its 2007 air raid during which Israeli warplanes briefly flew over Turkish territory.

    The Erdogan government was angered by that illegal incursion and has pointed to Israel’s own nuclear arsenal.

    Israel, most experts estimate that it has at least between 100 and 200 nuclear warheads, often threatens the Islamic republic with an attack.

    Turkey often calls for “fair” stance from global powers over nuclear activities in the region.

    Ali Nihat Ozcan of the Ankara-based TEPAV think tank saw in Barak’s remarks an effort at “psychological pressure” on Turkey.

    Ankara has not commented publicly on the state of its intelligence ties with Israel. But some Turkish commentators questioned Israeli suspected ties with PKK militants in Iraq.

    Agencies

    , 03 August 2010

  • Missteps on Turkey weaken Netanyahu before talks with Obama

    Missteps on Turkey weaken Netanyahu before talks with Obama

    Netanyahu and Barak
    Whispers no cure for voluble Turkish assaults

    DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis

    The “Turkish flotilla effect” continues to plague Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, leading him into one misstep after another with the result that he arrives in Washington on July 6 for talks with President Barack Obama with a divided government.

    DEBKAfile’s Jerusalem sources report that Thursday, July 1 finds Netanyahu scrambling to stabilize his cabinet lineup and recover from the fallout of his disastrous decision to let infrastructure minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer meet Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu for supposedly secret talks in Brussels to try and narrow the widening rift between Ankara and Jerusalem.
    It was leaked that same day, causing a huge uproar in Jerusalem – both because the initiative which failed was seen to be a crass error at a time that the Turkish prime minister Recep Erdogan’s anti-Israel campaign was in full flight, and because the prime minister neglected to update foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman of the event.

    Lieberman, who heads the right-wing Israel Beitenu, publicly accused Netanyahu of breach of trust. All day Thursday, he refused to answer the prime minister’s phone calls. The result: total disconnect between the head of government and his foreign minister less than a week before the Israeli prime minister meets the US president.

    Another key member of the Netanyahu cabinet, defense minister Ehud Barak, leader of the Labor party, is suspected by broad political circles of engineering the Israeli minister’s rendezvous with Davutoglu – not just for a reckless bid to melt the Turkish wall of hostility, but to edge the foreign minister and his party out of the government coalition.

    He has denied this charge – according to DEBKAfile’s sources, to avoid being associated with a second fiasco after the fumbled Israeli commando raid of the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship heading for Gaza on May 31.

    The defense minister understands that his complicity in the Brussels encounter could weigh against him when he testifies before the public inquiry commission Israel established to find out how the flotilla incident came to end with nine Turkish activists dead and six Israeli soldiers injured.
    Its findings could damage Barak’s career irretrievably.

    The panel, headed by ex-justice Jacob Turkel with two foreign observers, is to be given a broader mandate and real teeth.

    Instead of preparing calmly for a hardheaded discussion with the US president on a long list of tough issues, Netanyahu must now concentrate all his efforts on hauling his government coalition out of a morass. It is hard to see him managing this uphill job in the four days left before he boards a flight to Washington. He will therefore arrive at the White House with his government in disarray and his personal standing uncertain.

    In Ankara, DEBKAfile reports, the Turkish prime minister is gleefully capitalizing on Netanyahu’s embarrassment to pour salt in his wounds. He has issued “a clarification” of his comment on June 20, when he said, “Everyone knows who is behind the (Kurdish rebel) PKK’s terror attacks.”

    This comment was taken as a heavy hint referring to Israeli intelligence.
    However, ten days later, on Wednesday, June 30, the Turkish prime minister “clarified” this comment by explaining he had been referring to a group of right-wing Turkish military officers and politicians, known as Ergenekon, who are facing trial for attempting to overthrow the government by means of armed and terrorist attacks.

    On the face of it, the Turkish prime minister backtracked on his aspersions of Israeli involvement in PKK attacks – or so it sounded to some Western circles. However, seasoned Turkey watchers point out that the prime minister’s aides have for months been spreading rumors that Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency was behind Ergenekon, fed the anti-government generals intelligence and supplied them with weapons for their planned coup.

    In other words, Erdogan has stepped up his smear campaign against Israel from vague insinuations of its complicity in Kurdish terrorism to snide allegations of Jerusalem’s involvement in a subversive conspiracy to overthrow the Muslim-led government in Ankara.

    , July 1, 2010