Today’s Zaman
23 August 2009, Sunday
Israel attempts to make Russia major player in Mideast
Israel’s close relations with Russia and Turkey’s decreasing role in
Israel’s foreign policy have marked the transformation of Russia into
a considerable power in Middle Eastern affairs.
A recent meeting between Israeli President Shimon Peresand his Russian
colleague, Dmitri Medvedev, in Sochi supported this point. On Aug. 18,
the Israeli president, during his meeting with Medvedev, expressed his
confidence in Russia’s role in the Middle East peace process, for
which there has yet to be a solution. The Russian president said
conflicts persisting in the Middle East should be solved as quickly as
possible and Russia, as a part of a quartet of international
mediators, is ready to assist in this solution.
However, regional experts disagree with this statement. Adjunct
senior research fellow Shlomo Gazit from the Institute of National
Security Studies (INSS), a think tank based in Israel, told Sunday’s
Zaman that although he highly regarded Turkey’s ambitions to help
bring about reconciliation between Israel and Syria after their
long-lasting territorial dispute, he is not optimistic about the
results of these efforts. Commenting on the Israel-Syrian indirect
talks, Gazit, a prominent expert on Israeli foreign policy, said: `I
am a strong supporter of Israeli-Syrian peace talks, and I would like
very much to see a political settlement between our two countries.
>From this point of view, I highly appreciate the present Turkish
initiative, which tried to bring peace between Israel and Syria.’
"We have enormous respect and great appreciation for Turkish
efforts. But they have not succeeded — not because of the Turks,"
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon stated on Tuesday. This
does not necessarily mean that Israeli-Syrian talks have failed under
Turkish auspices. `Nevertheless,’ Gazit continued, `I am afraid the
present Turkish approach has no serious chance for success.’
Stating that the Turkish negotiation efforts were ambiguous and their
success seemed improbable, Gazit also noted that Israel no longer
trusts Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan after his outspoken
criticism at Davos concerning Palestinians. `Turkish [Prime Minister]
Erdoðan is not presently considered in Israel as an honest broker,
following his attitude and statements during the recent military
encounter in the Gaza Strip,’ he noted. Moreover, the expert believes
direct negotiations are imperative between Israel and Syria.
The Israel-Syria indirect talks began with Turkey’s mediation to
secure the return of the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967,
to Syria. Despite over a year of negotiations, the two sides failed to
reach a clear solution. Ayalon said on Tuesday that Israel will no
longer continue talks with Syria under Turkish mediation. He stated
that direct talks are a prerequisite to continue the negotiations.
Hüseyin Sümer, an independent analyst based in Ýstanbul, speaking
with Sunday’s Zaman, stated that he does not think Israel is trying to
bypass Turkey and replace Turkey with Russia. `This case is similar to
Azerbaijan-Turkey relations when Turkey attempted to normalize
relations with Armenia so Ýlham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan,
went to Moscow,’ Sümer said. According to the expert, Turkey has begun
to undertake proactive policies. He thinks that Turkish foreign policy
became more influential, which strained relations between Israel and
Turkey. Mentioning the problems between Israel and Turkey, Sümer says
these problems should not be the reason for stalled relationships
between the two countries. `There are unnamed thousands of Israeli
companies currently operating in Turkey. Turkey and Israel have
bilateral military agreements with each other.’ Referring to these
facts, Sümer concludes that Israeli-Turkish relations are unlikely to
worsen in such a way.
International Strategic and Research Organization (ISRO) head Sedat
Laçiner told Sunday’s Zaman, `Israel wants to take a position to
protest Turkey by sidelining with Russia.’ `However,’ he immediately
pointed out, `they cannot get any tangible results out of this. Russia
blamed Israel, saying it sold weapons to Georgia during the August
2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia. Russia also has a close
relationship with Iran and Syria. This means that Russia cannot be
like Turkey in mediating the talks. Israel, in fact, lost much by
keeping Turkey out of the talks.’
Comparing Russia and Turkey, the expert says Turkey and Russia are
not similar countries. `Turkey became a natural broker between Syria
and Israel due to its increasing role in the Middle East. Israel
gained much from Turkey, and it was Turkey that brought Israel and
Syria together,’ Laçiner said, adding that Israel cannot find a
country like Turkey and Turkey wants the best both for Syria and
Israel.
23 August 2009, Sunday
LAMÝYA ADÝLGIZI ÝSTANBUL