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Israel-Palestine
Turkish FM set for fence-mending trip to Israel
2005-01-02
ANKARA - Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul travels to Israel this week for a long-awaited visit to thaw the chill between the two regional allies after Turkey's prime minister accused Israel of state terrorism against the Palestinians. Gul is scheduled to meet with President Moshe Katsav, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom on Tuesday and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday.
Try to repair the budding alliance?
Analysts have questioned whether the so-called strategic partnership between Turkey and Israel is on the skids after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May condemned as "state terror" a deadly Israeli raid on the Rafah refugee camp and Ankara temporarily recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv.

Two months earlier Erdogan called the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin a "terrorist act," and in November 2003 turned down a request by Sharon for a brief visit to Ankara, citing his busy schedule.
Acting like a Muslim and not a European, Erdogan is.
Friendly ties with Turkey, a strictly secular non-Arab Muslim nation, are crucial for Israel to ease its isolation in the region. The two countries attracted the ire of Arab nations and Iran in 1996 when they struck a military cooperation accord, which was followed by a sharp increase in trade and cultural exchanges.

Its alliance with Israel gave Turkey leverage in 1998 to put pressure on Syria, its former arch-foe, and secure the expulsion of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan from his long-time safe haven in the Arab country.

Some analysts say Turkey could not have kept mum in the face of Israel's heavy-handed policies against the Palestinians at a time when it is working to improve its estranged ties with the Arab world. Others have described Erdogan's outbursts as lip service to supporters of his Justice and Development Party, an offshoot of a banned Islamist movement, many of whom are hostile to Israel.

Both Turkish and Israeli officials, however, say the tensions are now a matter of the past and agree the two sides should focus on how to use their partnership to advance the Middle East peace process. "The relations are back on track," said Emmanuel Nahshon, deputy chief of mission at the Israeli embassy here. "What was lacking were communication channels on issues on which friends may sometimes disagree. Those channels are now being established."

A senior Turkish diplomat said Turkey's criticism of Israel was "parallel" to the reactions of the international community and underlined that Ankara had also regularly condemned Palestinian violence but just not as loudly. "Those reactions (against Israel) are now matter of the past,"  he told AFP."What we want to do now is to make a real contribution to the peace process as true friends would do," he said. "Turkey is one of the few countries in which both Israel and the Palestinians trust."
Do the Paleos trust anyone?
The diplomat said the peace process would be high on Gul's agenda, with Turkey keen to help if assistance was demanded from it.

Nahshon said Israel was also eager to discuss regional developments, pointing at the recent improvement in Ankara's ties with Damascus and Tehran, both bitter opponents of the Jewish state. "We are not worried about your good relations with Syria and Iran. On the contrary, good ties in the region are an asset," he said. "If only Syria and Iran could be inspired by Turkish values of democracy and good neighborly relations."
If only.
The two parties are also expected to discuss boosting bilateral trade, which increased from 450 million dollars in 1996 to about 1.7 billion dollars (1.25 billion euros) in 2004. Turkey and Israel have also reached a water deal under which Israel is set to buy 50 million cubic meters (1.75 billion cubic feet) of water annually from Turkey over 20 years in a bid to solve its water shortage. The inauguration of the project is awaiting Israel's decision on how the water will be transported.
Why not run the pipeline through Syria, Turkey's soon to be southern-most new province?
Posted by:Steve White

#4  There could be a long term alliance when Turkey was kemalist since a real Kemalist will see Islam as something bad for Turkey and in fact a tool of Arab domination. But Turkey is no longer Kemalist.
Posted by: JFM   2005-01-02 11:01:18 AM  

#3  Glereper,
I agree with you
that's why we cannot trust any Paleostinian State
If they ever get one.
Posted by: EoZ   2005-01-02 2:02:44 AM  

#2  There can be no long term alliance between a Muslim country and a civilized country - not with Pakistan, not w/Saudi, not w/Turkey.
Posted by: Glereper Craviter7929   2005-01-02 1:42:33 AM  

#1  The relationship with Turkey is equivalet to a marriage of convenience. The main incentives for Israel are the military and political aspects.
I believe after what Abdullah Gul did to the US at their time of dire need in the north, we do not take our "allience" with them too seriously.

As they say here in the ME : "once a backstabber
always a backstabber".

Abdullah's name literally translates from arabic as "Allah's slave". The only thing now separating
turkey from the Sharia is the military establishment.
Turkey is a schizoid state torn between its poor moslem majority and the government need to economically integrate with western Europe.
As Eurostan steadily becomes Islamized,who knows
what will happen in turkey (maybe Murat ??)
Posted by: EoZ   2005-01-02 1:18:24 AM  

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