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WHO WILL DECIDE THE FUTURE OF TURKISH-ISRAELI RELATIONS?
Today's Zaman
Sept 5 2011
Turkey
The Palmer report on the Mavi Marmara raid has triggered another
wave of tension between Turkey and Israel. Turkey's demands from the
government of Israel for an official apology, compensation for the
victims and the lifting of the blockade of Gaza have not been met,
and it is now very unlikely that they will be in the future.
So the Turkish government has decided to move ahead with several
sanctions against Israel, making it clear that they are targeted at
the Israeli government and not the people of Israel, who deserve a
better government, according to Turkey's president, Abdullah Gul.
Some Israeli commentators have rushed to explain the new sanction
policy and the deterioration of the relationship between the
two countries in general between the two countries by referring
to the Islamist past of the Turkish ruling party and its leader,
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which is the most shortsighted
explanation of the current situation. We should remember that Turkey's
relations with Israel proceeded without any crisis under the Justice
and Development Party (AK Party) government for six long years, from
2002 to the end of 2008. During these years the AK Party welcomed
Shimon Peres, the president of Israel, to Ankara, where he addressed
the Turkish Parliament, a rare gesture offered to a close friend.
Meanwhile the Erdogan government tried to help mediate differences
between Israel and Syria in order to pave the way toward permanent
peace in the region.
The downturn in Turkish-Israeli relations started with Israel's war
against Gaza in December 2008, in which hundreds of Palestinians,
mainly elderly people, women and children, were killed. It is important
to remember that when Israel attacked Gaza in December 2008, Turkey
was trying to get Israel and Syria to agree to direct peace talks.
It is therefore nonsense to explain the current crisis by referring to
the so-called Islamist background of the Erdogan government. Israel's
policy of violence could not be accepted by the people of Turkey,
and the AK Party government has simply been responsive to the public
mood provoked by Israeli aggression. The raid on the Mavi Marmara was
surely beyond tolerance. The Israeli government has chosen to deal
with the old issue using outdated and inconclusive methods that have
resulted in their losing the friendship of Turkey.
I think recent Israeli governments have failed to understand the
dynamics, actors and policies essential to the "new Turkey." Turkey is
no longer a country ruled by its military, which suppressed different
points of view on domestic as well as foreign policy matters. Any state
that wishes to be a friend of Turkey should first win the support
and sympathy of its people. A government that is accountable to the
people under democratic rule cannot remain indifferent to the demands
of its people on foreign policy matters.
Normalization between the two countries will not begin without Israel
coming to terms with this "new Turkey," with its government, civil
society, economy and support in the world. The Israeli government
should abandon any daydreams of a return to the late 1990s, when
they had a working relationship with the Turkish government, and the
Turkish military disregarded what the people actually wanted.
Public opinion has had an increasing impact on Turkey's foreign
policy-making in recent years. Democratization and a growing
participation in civil society, due to economic development and the
EU accession process, have empowered public opinion to assert itself
on the matter of foreign affairs, which was not the case a decade ago.
Thus Turkey's relationship with Israel was questioned whenever Israel
engaged in violent policies in the region, like the war in Lebanon
and the attacks on Gaza. Public reaction to Israeli aggression in
the region is bound to be taken into consideration by a government
that is accountable to its people.
Especially after the killing of eight Turks and one Turkish-American
aboard the Mavi Marmara by Israeli soldiers, public opinion is ever
more important. It will be very difficult to win the people over to
a rapprochement with Israel, without at least an official apology
and compensation.
It is therefore a mistake to assume that the Erdogan government is the
source of the problem, and to claim that Turkish-Israeli relations
would return to normal under a non-AK Party government. To refute
this I will say two things: First, the AK Party government is only
responding to the public mood and demands. Second, the AK Party is very
unlikely to disappear from the political scene in Turkey. That is to
say that both the current public mood and the AK Party's rule appear
as though they will be around for a while. So instead of sitting and
waiting in vain for them to disappear, Israel and its friends should
try to not lose Turkey's support permanently.
My advice to the Israeli government is that it should get used
to living and working with the AK Party government, and to try to
understand the "new Turkey" because even in a future post-AK Party
period things will never be the same as in days past
Today's Zaman
Sept 5 2011
Turkey
The Palmer report on the Mavi Marmara raid has triggered another
wave of tension between Turkey and Israel. Turkey's demands from the
government of Israel for an official apology, compensation for the
victims and the lifting of the blockade of Gaza have not been met,
and it is now very unlikely that they will be in the future.
So the Turkish government has decided to move ahead with several
sanctions against Israel, making it clear that they are targeted at
the Israeli government and not the people of Israel, who deserve a
better government, according to Turkey's president, Abdullah Gul.
Some Israeli commentators have rushed to explain the new sanction
policy and the deterioration of the relationship between the
two countries in general between the two countries by referring
to the Islamist past of the Turkish ruling party and its leader,
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which is the most shortsighted
explanation of the current situation. We should remember that Turkey's
relations with Israel proceeded without any crisis under the Justice
and Development Party (AK Party) government for six long years, from
2002 to the end of 2008. During these years the AK Party welcomed
Shimon Peres, the president of Israel, to Ankara, where he addressed
the Turkish Parliament, a rare gesture offered to a close friend.
Meanwhile the Erdogan government tried to help mediate differences
between Israel and Syria in order to pave the way toward permanent
peace in the region.
The downturn in Turkish-Israeli relations started with Israel's war
against Gaza in December 2008, in which hundreds of Palestinians,
mainly elderly people, women and children, were killed. It is important
to remember that when Israel attacked Gaza in December 2008, Turkey
was trying to get Israel and Syria to agree to direct peace talks.
It is therefore nonsense to explain the current crisis by referring to
the so-called Islamist background of the Erdogan government. Israel's
policy of violence could not be accepted by the people of Turkey,
and the AK Party government has simply been responsive to the public
mood provoked by Israeli aggression. The raid on the Mavi Marmara was
surely beyond tolerance. The Israeli government has chosen to deal
with the old issue using outdated and inconclusive methods that have
resulted in their losing the friendship of Turkey.
I think recent Israeli governments have failed to understand the
dynamics, actors and policies essential to the "new Turkey." Turkey is
no longer a country ruled by its military, which suppressed different
points of view on domestic as well as foreign policy matters. Any state
that wishes to be a friend of Turkey should first win the support
and sympathy of its people. A government that is accountable to the
people under democratic rule cannot remain indifferent to the demands
of its people on foreign policy matters.
Normalization between the two countries will not begin without Israel
coming to terms with this "new Turkey," with its government, civil
society, economy and support in the world. The Israeli government
should abandon any daydreams of a return to the late 1990s, when
they had a working relationship with the Turkish government, and the
Turkish military disregarded what the people actually wanted.
Public opinion has had an increasing impact on Turkey's foreign
policy-making in recent years. Democratization and a growing
participation in civil society, due to economic development and the
EU accession process, have empowered public opinion to assert itself
on the matter of foreign affairs, which was not the case a decade ago.
Thus Turkey's relationship with Israel was questioned whenever Israel
engaged in violent policies in the region, like the war in Lebanon
and the attacks on Gaza. Public reaction to Israeli aggression in
the region is bound to be taken into consideration by a government
that is accountable to its people.
Especially after the killing of eight Turks and one Turkish-American
aboard the Mavi Marmara by Israeli soldiers, public opinion is ever
more important. It will be very difficult to win the people over to
a rapprochement with Israel, without at least an official apology
and compensation.
It is therefore a mistake to assume that the Erdogan government is the
source of the problem, and to claim that Turkish-Israeli relations
would return to normal under a non-AK Party government. To refute
this I will say two things: First, the AK Party government is only
responding to the public mood and demands. Second, the AK Party is very
unlikely to disappear from the political scene in Turkey. That is to
say that both the current public mood and the AK Party's rule appear
as though they will be around for a while. So instead of sitting and
waiting in vain for them to disappear, Israel and its friends should
try to not lose Turkey's support permanently.
My advice to the Israeli government is that it should get used
to living and working with the AK Party government, and to try to
understand the "new Turkey" because even in a future post-AK Party
period things will never be the same as in days past