BY DAVUT DURSUN
YENI SAFAK- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Israel and Palestine this week is expected to yield positive results for the region. Israel seems to attach great importance to its relations with Turkey, as it is an isolated country which wants to ensure our support and friendship.
Turkish-Israeli relations, in fact, go beyond bilateral contacts and ties between the two countries. Since Turkey’s relations with this country are considered an extension of its relations with the United States and Western countries, any problem with Israel is likely to affect our relations with the latter. As a matter of fact, one of the motives behind Erdogan’s visit is Washington’s pressure and demands. The US wants Turkey to have good relations with Israel.
Turkish-Israeli relations have always followed an interesting course with alternating ups and downs. Turkey recognized Israel immediately after its establishment in 1948. Thus, Turkish-Arab relations have long been overshadowed by Turkey’s being the first Muslim country to officially accept the Israeli government.
In addition, Turkey not only recognized the presence of the Israeli government, but also signed a trade agreement with it in an effort to boost its relations with Western countries. However, in 1964, when Turkey was left alone by its so-called Western allies in a United Nations vote on the Cyprus issue, but was fully supported by Islamic countries, Ankara finally recognized what a grave mistake it had made in its foreign policy. Our officials saw that the policy of trying to manage Turkey’s relations with other Muslim countries by taking the West as a reference point and positioning Ankara against Arabs in line with a Western perspective was both mistaken and useless. Ankara then diversified its foreign policy and started to forge cordial ties with Islamic and Eastern bloc countries. In the 1970s, in the other words, during the times of pro-Islamic governments which wanted to boost Ankara’s relations with Muslims, Israel was always a problem, a political hot potato. Therefore, Turkey always had to strive to maintain a balance between the two sides.
1980 was an interesting year for both Turkey and Israel. Our government was overthrown by a military intervention, and Israel declared Jerusalem its ‘eternal capital.’ Despite loud protests at this from Islamic countries, the Turkish Foreign Ministry kept silent. On the other hand, Turkey decided to lower its level of diplomatic representation with Israel to charge d’affaires. The tenser Turkey’s relations with the West, the closer Ankara moved to the Islamic world. This has always been the pattern.
In the 1990s, bilateral relations reached a peak and the two countries managed to maintain good relations in many areas. However, after the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in late 2002, our two countries again experienced a chilly period, especially after Erdogan’s tough criticisms of Sharon’s violent campaign against the Palestinians. Therefore, this week’s visit to the region will be key for mending fences. Will Turkey be able to undertake new initiatives in the region thanks to this visit? Turkey can give up neither Israel nor Palestine, but it can greatly contribute to the development of the region. Can Turkey and Israel share common interests? Will this be a new era for Turkish-Israeli relations? Let’s wait and see…