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A Fragile Friendship |
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(Source: Radio Netherlands; issued June 8, 2004)
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Turkey has recalled its ambassador and consul general from Israel in a sign of its growing anger at the plight of Palestinians.
Turkey is the only predominantly Muslim country to maintain close economic, diplomatic and military ties with Israel. But Ankara has condemned Israel's recent incursion into the Gaza strip and blasted the policy of assassinating Palestinian leaders.
The row comes just as the United States has invited Mr Erdogan to this week's G8 summit, where President George W. Bush is expected to unveil his latest Middle East peace plan.
The transfer of technology between the two nations is just one of the fruits of the close relationship that has evolved in the last few years. But the relationship received a shock when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed Israel for its attacks on the Palestinians, accusing the Israeli government of state terror.
Middle East specialist Soli Ozel of Istanbul's Bilgi University says the attack is more than political rhetoric: "It's pretty significant in that they were not off-the-cuff remarks. The issue of Israel, given the AKP base, is a very fragile and sensitive issue for them. If Israel's tense relations with the region continue, it will be more and more difficult perhaps to keep the relationship intact."
The AKP, Mr Erdogan's party, draws much of its support from Islamic voters in places such as Beyazit Square, located in Istanbul's old city. Israel's recent operations against the Palestinians have provoked outrage here.
Many find Ankara's relationship with Israel very disturbing. They wonder why Turks are trading and working with a country that is killing their Muslim brothers.
Such sentiments have put the government under mounting pressure to take diplomatic action against Israel. Ankara has even hinted that it might temporarily withdraw its ambassador. However, such action could put at risk its lucrative economic ties with Israel as well as support from the powerful Jewish lobby in Washington.
According to Professor Mensor Akgun of the Turkish think tank Tesev, Turkey's Arab neighbours wouldn't favour such a move: "I don't think we'll take any unilateral measure against Israel. We are likely to play a facilitating role in future negotiations, and some Arabic countries including Syria and Lebanon, Jordan, have given us a mandate to deal with Israel on their behalf."
It's because of Turkey's close relations with both Israel and Arab nations that US President George Bush invited Prime Minster Erdogan to attend the G8 summit.
Middle East specialist Soli Ozel says Turkey could play an important role in assisting Washington's peace efforts: "Everybody acknowledges without a commitment from [the] United States you cannot get much done. If there is commitment by the US, then Turkey becomes fairly important in terms of giving Israel a sense of security. It can do that. Second, it has run this place for 400 years, so it has some knowledge and documents whatever to participate in the making of a final deal."
The Turkish government has a vested interest in the success of the US peace efforts. Another failure would not only threaten to bring further instability along Turkey's borders, but it will also put even more domestic pressure on the government to re-examine the relationship with its Israeli ally.
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