BY YILMAZ OZTUNA
TURKIYE- If Turkish-Israeli relations soured, our influence would decline in the eyes of the US, the EU and even the world. Arab countries and Iran are very relaxed and have started to despise Turkey. What will happen to Israel? It will also suffer damage. However, I’m interested in Turkey’s situation. If the reason for the bilateral spat was Israel’s alleged intervention in northern Iraq, this would fall within the issue of Turkey’s security. If Israel has security problems with Syria, Iraq and Iran, clearly we have similar problems with northern Iraq. Israel cannot help to establish a Kurdish state through bypassing Turkey. If it does, the balance of powers would be spoiled not only in the Middle East, but also worldwide. However, if Ankara’s stance has aims beyond the northern Iraq issue and hopes to take the mission of rescuing Palestinians from oppression and forging an Arab-Israeli peace, this is a `mission impossible.’ Former US President Bill Clinton couldn’t manage it. This knot won’t be untied anytime soon.
If the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) pursues such a policy, it would be sheer folly leading inevitably to great disappointments and great losses. We don’t have the power to be a Middle East peace broker. Even if we had it, this would go against our interests. Anyway, what Mideast country would ask us to serve as mediator? These are hard political realities, not stuff for romantics and idealists. Of course we will learn Turkish-Israeli relations better as time passes. Israel has denied that it’s doing anything in northern Iraq. We don’t know how good our intelligence is, we only know that the PKK gangs are still in the mountains and that tribes are doing everything they can to transform Kirkuk into a rose garden. In addition, I’m sure that Israel’s continued construction of its wall will lead to more protests and criticisms worldwide.