TURKEY SHIFTING TOWARD RADICAL ISLAM, SAYS ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL

Hurriyet
m/n.php?n=israeli-military-chief-says-turkey-shift ing-toward-radical-islam-2010-01-20
Jan 20 2010
Turkey

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak (R) held talks with Turkish
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday in the wake of a serious
diplomatic row between the two countries. AFP photos

Turkey’s recent diplomatic moves are indicative of its shift away
from the West and toward radical Islam, Israel’s chief intelligence
official said, local media reported.

In his address to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee,
Israeli military intelligence Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin linked the change
in direction with the one-time allies’ deteriorating relationship.

Without specifically mentioning the recent diplomatic spat involving
Turkey’s ambassador to Israel and the Israeli deputy foreign minister,
Yadlin said: "Beyond the specific tension, one must understand that
the distance between the two countries is more significant and is
related to strategic topics and shared interests."

The intelligence chief’s statements come days after Israeli Defense
Minister Ehud Barak visited Turkey to help calm tensions that arose
when Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon seated Turkish Ambassador
Oguz Celikkol on a sofa lower than his own chair. Celikkol’s subsequent
public dressing-down sparked a sharp diplomatic row between the
two countries.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday he has not seen the
statements reported in the Israeli press. "I haven’t seen the report,
and I don’t find it likely," Burak Ozugergin told the Hurriyet Daily
News & Economic Review. "We often see such reports in the Israeli press
about statements aimed at spoiling Turkish-Israeli relations. If there
is such a development, I see their intelligence is not very strong,"
he said.

Cold shoulder from EU

"In the past, Turkey had ambitions of becoming closer to the West,
beyond its acceptance into NATO," daily Jerusalem Post quoted Yadlin
as saying. He said Turkey wanted to be part of the European market,
and it thought that relations with Israel would help them advance in
the American market.

"But then they received a cold shoulder from the Europeans and did
not achieve what they wanted. In light of that, they changed their
policies and are currently drawing away from secularism and going in
a more radical direction. There are still joint strategic interests
shared by Turkey and Israel, but it is not the same strategic proximity
that they once shared," he added.

Yadlin also highlighted Ankara’s growing relationship with Damascus
as a sign that Turkey and Israel were moving further apart. Turkey
recently lifted mutual visa requirements with Syria and signed a
series of cooperation agreements.

"In the past Turkey acknowledged joint interests that strengthened the
relationship. For example in the 1990s the Turks regarded Syria as an
enemy. There was a joint enemy. However, over the years Turkey and
Syria resolved their differences and Turkey doesn’t need Israel’s
closeness anymore," he said, according to a report by Yedioth
Ahronoth’s Web site.

Yadlin went on to address Iran’s nuclear program as well, saying that
Tehran is continuing work on it and the international community is
preparing to impose sanctions against Tehran. "As long as Iran is
not under heavy pressure, it doesn’t feel the need to renounce this
crucial issue," Yadlin said, reported Haaretz.

He said Palestinians are also trying to persuade the international
community to force Israel to return to peace negotiations, but on
their terms, which include a compete halt to settlement construction
including in East Jerusalem.