ISRAEL BANS ARMS EXPORTS TO TURKEY: CAN FRAYING RELATIONS BE MENDED
Daily Mail Post
April 19 2010
Turkey recognized Israel in the aftermath of the decline and breakup
of the Ottoman Empire when 500,000 Arab soldiers under the guidance
Lawrence of Arabia defected and Arab provinces revolted against the
Ottoman Sultanate.
Many think that Mustafa Kamal Pasha brought secularism to Turkey. It
is pedagogical to note that the secularists were, in practical terms
running the country and had been crowning and replacing sultans
starting with Mehmet V as puppets of the secular regime.
After eliminating Abdul Hamid they were extremely powerful. At his
funeral even his adversaries wept. Otto von Bismarck had once remarked
that "90% of intelligence is in the head of Sultan Abdul Hamid, 5% in
my head, and the remaining five in all the heads of the politicians."
A miscalculating alliance with Germany (Autro-Hungarian EMpire)led to
the collapse of not only the Empire, but also of the centuries-old
alliance between Turkish and Arab societies, mainly as a result
of British incitement of Arab nationalism. The last Ottoman caliph
Abdul Majid II had been offered a grand sum of money if he allowed
the creation of a Jewish state in the heart of the Middle East. The
Turks refused.
After the demise of the Ottoman empire, the secularists recognized
Isreal and maintained relations with it.
Eight years ago the religious AK Party was elected to power in over
Ankara, and things began to change. The Turks turned down $38 billion
from America and refused them overflight rights so that the US could
attack Iraq.
Since 2002 Turkey has been moving away from Tel Aviv and has been
critical of its policies.
At the European Economic Summit in Davos, the Turkey’s prime minister
stormed off the stage after a heated debate on Gaza with Israel’s
president. Recep Tayyip Erdogan clashed with Shimon Peres, whose
voice had risen as he made an impassioned defence of Israel’s actions,
jabbing his finger.Mr Erdogan said Mr Peres had spoken so loudly to
conceal his "guilt".
Recently the US Congress passed a resolution criticizing Ottoman
policies against the Armenians. This chagrined the Turks to no end.
Now the Israelis have imposed sanctions on Turkey.
In January of this year the Turkish Foreign Minister surely set the
stage for things to come
Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, has made his strongest
criticism yet of Israel and its policies. After talks with his British
counterpart David Miliband at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in
London, the two ministers held a joint press conference during which
Mr Davutoglu answered questions about his country’s lukewarm relations
with Israel. Asked whether Turkey’s criticism of Israel was attributed
to a policy of "Islamisation", Mr. Davutoglu denied the existence of
any such policy and said that Turkey had worked actively for regional
peace; indeed, until 2008 Turkey had had very good relations with
Israel, even to the point of bringing it to the same table with Syria.
The war in Gaza a year ago changed this, said Mr. Davutoglu. "By
attacking Palestinians in Gaza, Israel ruined our peace efforts and we
cannot tolerate this. Attacking children and women is unacceptable,"
he added.
Davutoglu emphasised that his country’s relations would not be
normalised as long as Israel is occupying and attacking Palestine. "If
Israel ends its occupation and unacceptable treatment of Palestinians,
then we will be ready the next day for normalised and good relations,"
he said. "Turkey’s foreign policy is based on equality both with its
neighbouring countries and others. A Jewish kid is not superior to a
Palestinian kid. Both should be treated as equal. This is our vision
for the region."
The Israeli reaction to Turkey is hardly unexpected.
â-¦Israel imposes partial arms embargo on Turkey â-¦"Ties with Turkey
will never be the way they once were" â-¦Diplomatic relations between
the two countries declined in the aftermath of Israel’s 2008-09
conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip â-¦More disharmony followed
Turkey’s decision to forbid Israel Air Force strike aircraft to be
deployed in Turkey Israel will temporarily freeze sales of advanced
military platforms to Turkey over concerns about the perceived
mounting anti-Israel rhetoric from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
reported UK-based Jane’s Defence Weekly.
According to a story Jane’s published on April 16, Israel’s defense
assistance and export organization, SIBAT, has decided to evaluate
Turkish requests on a case-by-case basis; one case under review is a
Turkish request for Israeli-made electronic warfare systems. Turkey has
also expressed interest in Rafael’s Spike non-line-of-sight (NLOS)
anti-tank guided weapon as well as Israel Aerospace Industries’
(IAI’s) Barak 8 theatre-defense missile system for its navy and the
Namer heavy infantry fighting vehicle.
"Ties with Turkey will never be the way they once were," a defense
source told Jane’s on April 14. "We are being very careful which
systems we sell them due to the growing Islamic trends in the country."
Diplomatic relations between the two countries declined in the
aftermath of Israel’s 2008-09 conflict with Hamas in the Gaza
Strip because Turkey was among the harshest critics of the Israeli
offensive. They deteriorated further with the delay in deliveries by
IAI of six Heron unmanned aerial vehicles and still further with the
decision to cancel the October 2009 Anatolian Eagle exercises.
More disharmony followed Turkey’s decision to forbid Israel Air
Force strike aircraft to be deployed in Turkey, where they have held
numerous joint exercises in recent years. Israel has instead turned
to Europe for training, aiming to bolster a 2006 agreement to allow
strike aircraft to be deployed in Romania, reported Jane’s quoting
its Tel Aviv correspondent.
According to Jane’s, Israel and Turkey have, however, maintained
a cautious business relationship, jointly discussing with Colombia
the sale of upgraded M60 main battle tanks (MBTs). Israel Military
Industries (IMI) and Turkey’s Aselsan on April 7 handed over the last
of 170 upgraded General Dynamics M60A1 MBTs to the Turkish military
at a ceremony attended by a top Colombian general, said Jane’s.
Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gönul was not available to answer
Today’s Zaman’s questions on the issue. 19 April 2010, Monday,
TODAY’S ZAMAN ANKARA
Turkey has been rebuffed by the Jewish President of France Mr.
Sarkozy. France has pretty much told the Turks that it should stop
dreaming about joining the European Union.
Turkey has since then been looking East towards its former provinces
in Central Asia and towards Pakistan. Relations have been very warm
and Turkish Pakistani relations have been instrumental in bringing
about a consensus on Afghanistan.
The latest Isreali-Turkish tiff has huge repercussions on the entire
area. The Turkish Army has been the harbinger of Turkish secularism
and its relations with Israel. Will it intervene? Can Turkey and
Isreal mend their relations?