ArmInfo. The reason for Turkish President Recep Erdogan's recent overtures to Israel is, among other things, Anraka's seeking new approaches to the United States, Emma Begijanyan of the Armenian Institute of International Affairs and Security, said in an interview with ArmInfo.
"In other words, Turkey is seeking access to the United States through Israel. Many analysts account for President Erdogan's overwhelming desire to improve his relations with Israel primarily by his seeking Israel's mediation in purchasing F-16 from the USA. This segment in the Turkish Armed Forces has remained undeveloped since Washington's much-talked-of refusal to sell F-35 to Turkey," she said.
One more reason for Erdogan "kissing the hand he wishes to cut off" is his seeking Israel's support in developing the gas fields in Eastern Mediterranean – in other words, in a grave problem involving Turkey's relations with Cyprus and Greece. This is the reason for Recep Erdogan's statements on the prospective development of Turkish-Israeli energy cooperation, which he made during Israeli President Isaac Herzog's recent "historic," as he said, visit to Turkey.
However, Ms Begijanyan is pessimistic about Turkey's expectations, especially in the context of the Israeli president's statement prior to his visit to Ankara. Specifically, he emphasized that any rapprochement between Israel and Turkey will by no means be to the detriment of Israel's energy cooperation with Cyprus and Greece. According to Ms Begijanyan, it reflects Tel-Aviv's general position on the matter.
The constant process of Israel's establishing contacts with Arab states makes the rapprochement between Turkey and Israel even more uncertain and problematic. Tel Aviv's good relations with a number of Arab states allow one to speak of Turkey's declining importance for Israel. This last fact means Ankara's agreeing to concessions to Israel in the process of normalization of relations launched in 2020 with Azerbaijan's active support.
"And the last fact reflecting Erdogan's unprecedented determination to normalize relations with Israel: to please Israel, Turkey has lately made steps against Iran. Specifically, neutralizing an Iranian spy ring was a sort of prelude to President Isaac Herzog's visit to Turkey. The 'spy ring' allegedly planned the assassination of a big Israeli businessman in retaliation for the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, an Iranian nuclear physicist and scientist, by Israeli intelligence services," Ms Begijanyan said.