ARMENIAN LOBBY IN WASHINGTON WILL KEEP TURKEY IN LINE: JEWISH TRIBUNE
news.am
Nov 16 2009
Armenia
Eli Shaked, Israeli Former Ambassador to Turkey, is not alarmed with
"Worrisome trend of Turkey’s souring relationship with Israel,"
Jewish Tribune article as of Nov 12. reads.
According to him, "Turkey’s anger at Israel and its embracing Syria
and Iran is a tactical, not a strategic, move. Nonetheless, on the
very day that Shaked made his observations, a Turkish mob threw eggs
at the present ambassador, Gabi Levy. A few days before, Turkey signed
a US $10 million oil refinement deal with Iran, in defiance of the
US call for sanctions," the source reads.
Shaked explained that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is
backing neo-Ottomanism which "favors a common market with its Muslim
neighbors."
The paper quotes Shaked saying that Davutoglu "aspires to transform
Turkey into a superpower and enhance its military and economic
strengths while avoiding conflict with its neighbors."
"Turkey recently restored diplomatic ties with Armenia, its eastern
neighbor and century-old enemy. This in turn upset Turkey’s cordial
relationship with Azerbaijan, which disputes territory occupied by
its Armenian neighbor. In the past, Turkey performed joint military
exercises with the Jewish state. However, Turkey’s Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of war crimes during its Cast
Lead operations in Gaza. Yet Ankara never condemned Hamas for firing
rockets into Israel’s south," Jewish Tribune says.
Shaked maintained that Turkey’s thrashing over Israel "is merely a
way of expressing its frustration at not being admitted to the EU."
He also underlined that "whether the Turkish PM is an antisemite is
less significant. What is more important is whether Erdogan will
restore its economic and military ties with Israel. Other Turkish
leaders were anti-Semitic but knew how to hide it," the source
quotes Shaked.
The paper concludes saying that "despite Turkey’s dampened relations
with Israel, Shaked feels that Europe’s castigating Turkey for
its human rights violations, along with a strong Armenian lobby in
Washington, will keep Turkey in line."