Tag: Turkey-Israel

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a Turkish newspaper that Israel sent “the richest Jewish man in the world” to create better relations between the two countries.

Erdogan said in an interview with the daily Hurriyet published on Sept. 17 that Israel only has ties with one Muslim country and that it would be in the country’s best interest to maintain good relations with Turkey.

“They sent the richest Jewish man in the world [to us] a couple of months ago. What was the reason? He was supposed to be intercessor,” Erdogan said.

The newspaper reported that the businessman was likely cosmetic magnate Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, who has close ties to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Other Turkish media suggested that it was casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.

Erdogan also reiterated his conditions for restoring good relations with Israel: that it apologizes for the deaths of nine Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara ship seeking to break the naval blockade of Gaza; it compensates the families of the victims; and it lifts its blockade of Gaza.

Erdogan also told the newspaper that in light of the recent furor in the Arab world over the anti-Islam movie “Innocence of Muslims,” he would ask the United Nations to have Islamophobia defined as a hate crime.

via Turkey’s Erdogan says Israel sent ‘richest Jew’ to intercede | JTA – Jewish & Israel News.

Time to end the ‘cold war’ between Turkey and Israel

With Iran nuclear talks stalled, Syria downing a Turkish fighter jet, and uncertainty following the Arab Spring, there has never been a more important time for Turkey and Israel to end their ‘cold war.’ They can begin with a compensation deal over the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident.

By Michael J. Koplow and Brent E. Sasley / June 27, 2012

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of his ruling party at the Turkish parliament in Ankara June 26. The Turkish Armed Forces’ rules of engagement have changed as a result of Syria shooting down a Turkish warplane, and they will respond to any violation on the Syrian border Mr. Erdogan said. Op-ed writers Michael J. Koplow and Brent E. Sasley comment: Rapprochement between Turkey and Israel could ‘foster the possibility of an international consensus on Syria.’

Umit Bektas/Reuters

Washington and Arlington, Texas

The Middle East’s two strongest economic and military powers, Turkey and Israel, are no closer to mending their deteriorating relationship than two years ago, when Israeli commandos intercepted an aid flotilla, killing nine Turkish human rights activists aboard the Mavi Marmara.

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But ties between the two need to be urgently reset – and can be – for the benefit of these former allies and for a region in turmoil.

OPINION: Three factors that will determine Syria’s future

An urgency to reconcile has been missing up until now, but outside events are conspiring to make the incentives for rapprochement stronger. With Iran nuclear talks at a stalemate, Syria on the brink of civil war and shooting down a Turkish fighter jet, growing instability in Lebanon, and lingering uncertainty following the Arab Spring, there has never been a more important time for these two historically friendly countries to end their ‘cold war.’

A reconciliation between Turkey and Israel would bring many benefits. Turkey could return to its role as facilitator in Israeli-Arab peace talks and at the same time ease the distrust of Ankara in the US Congress. The popularity of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and of his country in the Arab world could help cushion Israel against the uncertainties of the Arab Spring.

via Time to end the ‘cold war’ between Turkey and Israel – CSMonitor.com.

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Turkey, Israel: Potential for a fresh start?

Editor’s Note: Soner Cagaptay is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a GPS contributor. You can find all his blog posts here. Tyler Evans is a research assistant at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Soner Cagaptay and Tyler Evans.

By Soner Cagaptay and Tyler Evans, Special to CNN

Soner Cagaptay

Thursday marks the two-year anniversary of the 2010 flotilla incident, a crisis on the high seas that triggered a tailspin in Turkish-Israeli relations.

In the aftermath of the incident, Turkey recalled its ambassador and demanded an apology from Israel as well as reparations for the nine slain activists. Ankara even announced that its warships would escort future missions to Gaza.

Attempts to mend fences have stalled over the issue of an Israeli apology. With Turkey willing to accept nothing less than a full apology, and Israel for the moment unwilling to accommodate this demand, the two sides seem to be at an impasse.

Yet below the surface, not all is grim in Turkish-Israeli relations. Remarkably, economic ties have been flourishing between the two countries.

Turkish-Israeli economic ties took off in the late-1990s as part of a growing strategic convergence. Deepening trade was underpinned by a series of bilateral agreements opening Turkish and Israeli markets to each other. Notable agreements included a free trade agreement (1996), a double-taxation prevention treaty (1997), and a bilateral investment treaty (1998). These agreements ushered in an era of improving political and economic ties. Trade jumped from $449 million in 1996 to more than $2.1 billion in 2002. This remarkable acceleration continued with bilateral trade increasing 14.6% per year, on average, from 2002 to 2008.

Surprisingly, the diplomatic crisis has not translated into an economic crisis. Take for instance, a boycott announced by several Israeli grocery chains in the wake of the flotilla incident. Despite the assertions on the part of these retailers, Turkish export of vegetable products has remained steady since 2007, and exports of prepared foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco doubled between 2007 and 2011. From 2010 to 2011, trade increased by 30.7%, far surpassing the growth that occurred during the heyday of Turkish-Israeli ties.

Still, defense ties have been hard-hit. Following the flotilla incident, Turkey froze at least a dozen defense projects with Israel, including a $5 billion deal for tanks and an $800 million sale for patrol aircraft and an early-warning radar plane.

Despite these bruises, economic ties seem destined to deepen even further in the long term.

For starters, all the aforementioned trade and investment treaties remain solidly in effect. Secondly, neither side seems eager to disrupt the trend of booming bilateral trade. In the aftermath of the flotilla incident, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his intention to cut all relations with Israel, including trade. But Ankara rapidly corrected the statement, adding that commercial ties would not be downgraded. Similarly, when an Israeli investment house announced its plans to divest in Turkey, the head of the Israeli Chamber of Commerce urged firms to refrain from any actions that might hurt Turkish-Israeli business ties.

Q&A: Explaining the tension between Turkey, Israel

The mutual reluctance to rupture trade ties is understandable, especially in light of the global economic climate. After all, both countries owe much of their growth in recent years to buoyant exports, a large portion of which were sold in European markets. This means that both countries are vulnerable to a sluggish European recovery. Greater bilateral trade could pick up some of the slack, especially on the Israeli side, where Turkey constituted Israel’s sixth-largest export market in 2011 and could climb the ranks as Israel’s traditional markets remain anemic.

Israel is important for Turkey as well. In terms of volume, the Israeli market is small, but it presents significant opportunities for Turkish producers to move up the value chain. In March, the Turkish Industry and Business Association identified Israel as a priority investment partner, underlining the advantages of coupling Turkey’s land and labor with Israel’s innovation economy. A telling example of this potential can be found in Bursa, where Turkish manufacturers are assembling electric cars as part of a venture with the Israeli company Better Place. Thanks to this venture, Turkey is now producing its first electric car with technology that would not have been easy for the Turks to develop on their own.

There is also a political angle that could bode well for bilateral ties. Faced with an increasingly volatile Middle East, some Israelis are concluding that they are better off rebuilding ties with Turkey, even if this does not mean going back to the honeymoon years of the 1990s. Meanwhile, Turkey faces a popular uprising in Syria that holds the potential of spilling over its borders. Along with downward-spiraling ties with Iraq, not to mention regional competition against Iran, this suggests that Israel is perhaps not the biggest fish to fry.

Turkey and Israel seem to have potential for a fresh start. Even if the pair continues to diverge on certain core political issues, both seem to secretly prepare for the day they can make up again. As always, the flag follows the money.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of Soner Cagaptay and Tyler Evans.

Post by: Soner Cagaptay

via Turkey, Israel: Potential for a fresh start? – Global Public Square – CNN.com Blogs.

By Jonathan Head BBC News, Istanbul

View of Everest – file pic

It isn’t often these days that you see two men, arms round each other, holding Israeli and Turkish flags.

But an extraordinary rescue on the world’s highest mountain has bonded two climbers, one from Israel and one a Turk.

By his own account Nadav Ben-Yehuda was only 300 metres from the summit of Mount Everest, and on course to become the youngest Israeli to conquer it, when he spotted someone lying in the snow, clearly in trouble.

He recognised Aydin Irmak as a Turkish climber he had befriended down at base camp. Other climbers, set on reaching the summit, or just too exhausted by the altitude, had passed by without helping.

Irmak had no gloves, no oxygen and no shelter, according to Ben-Yehuda, and was unconscious.

Climbers Nadav Ben-Yehuda (left) and Aydin Irmak after descent (pic: Israeli embassy, Kathmandu) Ben-Yehuda (left) saved a life – and had to abandon his summit bid

So the Israeli abandoned the goal he had been preparing for over many months, and helped to carry Irmak down the tough, nine-hour descent to base camp, from where both men were evacuated by helicopter for medical treatment. Both are suffering from frostbite. Irmak would certainly have died without help.

The story has inevitably been widely covered in the Israeli media, but it is also being reported in some Turkish newspapers – a rare piece of positive news about a country many Turks only ever see in the most negative light.

Pro-Palestinian mood

Turkish-Israeli inter-state relations have been deteriorating for many years, driven by a Turkish government which feels outrage over Israeli policy towards the Palestinians, and an Israeli government which has refused to soften that policy to accommodate the sensibilities of the only ally it had in the region.

Relations hit an all-time low in May 2010, when Israeli commandos stormed a ship full of activists trying to break the blockade of Gaza, killing nine Turkish citizens.

Attitudes in Turkish society have also hardened towards Israel. Rising Islamic piety in much of the country has led to a stronger sense of solidarity with perceived Islamic grievances elsewhere, the Palestinian issue foremost until the dramatic Arab uprisings of the past year. That hostility has also been fuelled by Turkish television dramas, which often portray Israel as a brutal military oppressor.

Nadav Ben-Yehuda (pic: Israeli embassy, Kathmandu) Ben-Yehuda got frostbite in his fingers because he had to take his gloves off

The story of Nadav Ben-Yehuda and Aydin Irmak contradicts that narrative.

So could it help break the ice between Turkey and Israel?

There have been other “ice-breaking” episodes: the time Turkey sent water-bombing aircraft to help Israel combat deadly forest fires in December 2010, and the aid Israel sent to Turkey after the earthquake that struck Van last year. But neither prompted a breakthrough in restoring relations.

Turkey is still adamant that there can be no real improvement until Israel apologises and pays compensation for the nine people killed on board the Gaza flotilla. A Turkish prosecutor has asked a court in Istanbul to accept an indictment of murder against senior Israeli military commanders over the incident.

The two countries are at odds over other issues, in particular Israel’s involvement in the exploitation of oil and gas off the coast of Cyprus, a project Turkey opposes because it does not recognise the Cypriot government.

Regional realpolitik

Trade between Israel and Turkey, though, has been largely unaffected – it actually grew last year to well over $3bn (£2bn). Israeli tourist numbers have dropped sharply, but those who come receive the same hospitality given to other visitors in Turkey’s more liberal-minded coastal resorts.

The turmoil in the Arab world, especially Turkey’s strife-torn neighbour Syria, means that Ankara is once again relying more on its alliance with the US, and co-operation with staunch US allies like Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

And the US is telling Turkey to fix the row with Israel, saying it is an unnecessary distraction from the more serious challenges confronting Ankara in the Middle East. It is still is not clear how that thaw can happen.

But the tale of a good deed high in the Himalayas can only help.

via BBC News – Rescue of Everest climber helps Israel-Turkey thaw.

I strongly believe that the time is right for Turkey and Israel to mend their critically important bilateral relationship which has suffered a precipitous decline since 2010. With the Middle East in turmoil as a result of the Arab Spring, the perilously unfolding crisis in Syria, the concerns around the Iranian nuclear program, the recent expansion of the Netanyahu government and the fact that the continuing and increasing level of bilateral trade relations between Turkey and Israel remains unaffected by these developments, all suggest that restoring their bilateral relationship now will serve the national strategic interests of both former allies. The question is, will Israel and Turkey recognize the potential gains they can both reap once they remove any obstacles standing in the way of rapprochement, knowing that full collaboration at this time is central to a regional stability that directly impacts their respective national security concerns?

Coupled with other significant developments, perhaps the most alarming issue at this particular time is the turmoil in Syria, in which Turkey has taken a strong and principled stand against the continuing carnage inflicted by Assad’s regime. Prime Minister Erdogan has made it clear that Bashar Assad and his cohorts must step down from power in order to end the crisis. Turkey shares a more than 800 kilometer (510 mile) long border with Syria and is deeply involved in Syria as it continues to provide humanitarian aid, shelter the refugees and host the Syrian National Council, the main opposition to the Assad regime. Israel, for its part, has prevented potentially greater conflagration by carefully and quietly monitoring the situation while taking no provocative action to keep the calm, which provided Turkey the necessary space to serve as the main power broker to oppose Assad with a sense of empowerment from the Arab League. The new political order that emerges in Syria will have a tremendous effect both on Israel and Turkey. By virtue of being neighbors of Syria, both have unique national interests in dealing with post-Assad Syria in a manner that will ensure regional stability and enhance their short and long-term strategic and security interests.

Moreover, the general regional uproar resulting from the Arab Spring has dramatically shifted the power relations from the status quo ante. There has been a diminution of the bilateral relations between Israel and Egypt, which has been the pillar of regional stability since the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1979. At the same time, Turkey’s stature in the region has grown immensely due in part to the high popularity of Prime Minister Erdogan, his position on Syria, and his stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Turkey’s strong position on Syria, in particular, has mitigated the impression that Turkey favors and panders to Islamists and demonstrated that is able to take a more balanced approach that has alleviated some of Israel’s earlier concerns. As a result, Turkey has emerged as an attractive interlocutor and model for the Arab world while deepening Israel’s isolation. The projected continued regional instability requires that both countries seek a renewed strategic partnership to handle the unpredictable nature of the region’s upheaval.

Israel’s hawkish stance against Iran’s nuclear program has dramatically increased regional tension as the world powers continue to work toward a peaceful resolution to Iran’s nuclear ambitions. As long as there is continuing conflict between Israel and Iran, however, Turkey, who is just as concerned over Iran’s nuclear program, can play an important role to diffuse the tensions. Although there is growing tension between Ankara and Tehran over the fate of the Assad government, Turkey is still on speaking terms with Iran, enjoys some influence and could exert a degree of pressure on Tehran to show more flexibility in conjunction with the negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 in Baghdad, which resumes May 23rd. Turkey has been strongly resistant to implementing sanctions on Iran, a position that has run contrary to Israel’s hard-line stance. But since Turkey dreads the prospect of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and would certainly seek to prevent it, both Israel and Turkey have mutual interests in engaging in constructive dialogue that could reduce the regional friction regarding Iran’s nuclear program from which they can both greatly benefit.

The conflicts existing between Turkey and Israel, however, remain serious but can be ameliorated provided they set emotions aside and instead concentrate on the larger picture in rapidly changing times laden with unpredictable hazards. Turkey has taken, for good reason, a very strong position against the Israeli settlement program, especially in light of the recent decision by the Netanyahu government to retroactively legalize three West Bank outposts. Turkey has continued to criticize Israeli policies in the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza. Furthermore, Turkey blocked Israel’s participation in the upcoming NATO Summit in Chicago on May 20th and the Mediterranean Dialogue Group, both of which are linked to Israel’s refusal to offer a public apology for the Gaza Flotilla incident, during which eight Turkish citizens (and one Turkish-American) were killed by Israeli commandos.

While Israel, on the other hand, has avoided doing or saying anything provocative in recent months against Turkey, there is still a residue of resentment against the Erdogan government for lashing out against Israel whenever the opportunity presents itself. Israel does have its share of mistakes but it too seeks to bring an end to the sad Marmara episode in order to resume its alliance with a country that is now enjoying greater influence, is a close ally of the US, a powerful member of NATO and a neighbor of Israel’s three most sinister enemies: Syria, Lebanon and Iran. There is a growing sense that both sides want to preserve the prospect of restoring their relationship that existed before the diplomatic breakdown. In this regard, the United States has been urging both sides to move toward reconciling their differences, since the future stability of the region depends largely on full cooperation between the two most powerful nations in the area.

What might certainly further encourage rapprochement between the two countries is the fact that even though diplomatic relations, military exchanges and tourism from Israel to Turkey have been reduced to historically low levels, trade relations between them have reached new heights in 2011-2012. In addition, there is a tremendous level of technical collaboration, specifically in the biochemical field, while Turkish businessmen still see Israel as a place to trade with and in large part, see Israel as a place to learn from Israeli expertise. To be sure, from every indication both countries want to maintain viable trade relations to provide a solid foundation on which they can rebuild strong diplomatic bilateral relations as well.

The other significant development is the recent decision by Prime Minister Netanyahu to expand his coalition government, which now commands 94 out of 120 Knesset members and thereby strengthen his grip on power to an unprecedented degree. The move offers Netanyahu a great deal of political confidence to face challenges by smaller parties on any range of issues where there is disagreement. Of particular significance is the upcoming second year anniversary of the Gaza Flotilla Raid on May 31st, 2010, which effectively broke off relations between Israel and Turkey. Nearly a year ago, both sides succeeded in reaching an agreement where Israel would apologize for the incident, compensate the victims, and allow Turkey to send food stuff and materials for civilian consumption to Gaza.

There was strong dissent within the cabinet over Israel’s possible acquiescence and apology. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s threat to withdraw from the coalition was enough for Netanyahu to back down from signing the agreement. Now that Netanyahu commands an overwhelming majority in the Knesset, he can actually revive this previous agreement and offer the apology that Ankara has been demanding all along without fear of Lieberman’s departure. Turkey has said time and again that once such an apology is made, Ankara will resume full diplomatic relations, including the exchanging of ambassadors. Now that Netanyahu is operating from a position of strength, he can make such a concession, especially since he agreed to the original language of the document that contained an apology. There is no better time to do so than right now.

Instead of recalling the tragedy that took place in international waters on its second anniversary, Israel should reconsider its position by meeting Turkey’s demands and putting the Marmara affair behind, which could go far beyond repairing the rift between the two former allies. Both sides stand to gain enormously from this necessary rapprochement. Israel will dramatically benefit by ending its isolation from the Muslim world and Turkey will gain likewise through its newfound assertiveness as a regional power.

The death of any one person at any time, in any place and under any circumstance, is unfortunate. Why not express an apology for lives that were lost and move on? This would not be seen as a sign of weakness but one of strength of conviction.  It would not be a victory for Turkey but a victory for the human spirit that transcends the hour and brings nations together. The time is now.

Turkey And Israel: Now Is The Time To Reconcile