Did Erdogan Policies Disrupt Turkish-Israeli Relations?

When we look at the developments regarding the Arab Spring, it is of course possible to make an inference that the USA and the West are behind all these events. It is understandable that the West wants to reshape the Middle East with regimes close to or supportive of them. After the artificial borders drawn in the First World War and even the artificial dynasties, policies that seem cute to the wishes and expectations of the Arab peoples, both the pulse of the people of the region and the current administrations can be kept in line with the West. Therefore, in any case, it is possible for a structure that serves the interests of the West to continue to exist. It goes without saying that Israel is included in the Western camp here.

For a long time, Israel thought that what it was looking for in the Middle East, it found its roots in pro-American Kurds who were not Arabs and opposed to Turks. Because it has been seen from the open hostility and conflicting regional interests between the two countries that it will not happen with Iran. Relations with Turkey are in the form of ebb and flow. Despite the development of commercial relations, Turkey's regional interests and Israel's policies clash from time to time, and some Turkish politicians' objections to Israel can prevent the Turkish-Israeli relationship from being stable. In the current situation, the Kurds, who since Saddam's era see being an American ally as a necessity for their own interests and therefore do not keep the word of the USA, in a sense, the Americans who do not keep the word of Israel (more generally the Jewish world), and Israel itself come together. With the arrival of Israel, it will be possible to guarantee the expansion and existence of Israel in the promised land (Saygun, 2012, p.271).

Looking at the Israeli flag, two blue lines and a star in the middle are seen. One of these two blue lines symbolizes the Nile and the other the Euphrates, which originates in Turkey and flows into the Persian Gulf. The star in the middle of this flag is the promised land, pointing to the region between the two rivers where the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations flourished. In this respect, the geography of the Kurds and Israel's regional goals meet at the middle point in terms of the promised land. Perhaps for this reason, a great rapprochement emerged between Israel and the Kurdish movements, and it consolidated over time after the First Gulf War.

Since the year it was established between Israel and Turkey, relations have actually progressed to a certain extent on a smooth course. Despite the Arabs, Turkey was one of the first states to recognize Israel's independence in 1948. Even in the Arab-Israeli wars that followed, instead of being on the side of the Muslim Arabs, Turkey maintained its position in a position not close to Israel. In general, good relations between the State of Israel and Turkey were tried to be maintained.

With the coming to power of the Labor Party leader Yitzhak Rabin in 1992, the peace process accelerated and after the Oslo talks that started on 20 January 1993 and lasted for four months, Rabin and Arafat signed the "Declaration of Principles" on 13 September 1993 at the White House. With this positive development in the peace process, Turkey-Israel relations also relaxed and gained a new momentum (Kirişçi, 2001, p.101).

The Turkey-Israel Free Trade Agreement (STA), which was signed on March 14, 1996 and entered into force on May 1, 1997, played a role in increasing the economic relations between the two countries and mutually improving foreign trade. Likewise, the Defense Industry Cooperation Agreement, which was signed with Israel on August 28, 1996 and shown as one of the most important agreements Turkey has made in the military field, was signed on the basis of the memorandum signed on November 14, 1993, during Hikmet Çetin's visit to Israel. The Defense Industry Cooperation Agreement signed with Israel basically included the transfer of knowledge between the parties in the field of defense and mutual training of technical personnel and the modernization of Turkey's military equipment by Israel (Sarıaslan, 2019, p.1071).

In this context, close relations have been developed especially with the Israel Defense Industry, and the modernization projects of the F-4 2020 and F-5 warplanes have been successfully completed together. In this context, the development of 26 F-4 fighter jets in Israel and 28 F-4 fighter jets in Eskişehir; It was decided that the financing of this project, which cost approximately 600 million dollars, would be met with the loans provided by Israel. Again, within the framework of the said agreement, the modernization of 48 F-5 model warplanes was awarded to Israel in 1998. In addition, various war materials were imported from Israel during this period. In April 2002, the modernization of M-60 tanks was awarded to an Israeli company (Israeli Military Industries–IMI). Within the scope of the said modernization project, 170 M-60 A1 tanks were converted to M-60 T tanks and 

The last tank, whose modernization was completed, was delivered to Turkey on April 7, 2010 (Sarıaslan, 2019, p.1073).

In Electronic Warfare exercises, both countries used each other's airspaces, and planned exercises and trainings, including the Anatolian Eagle, were carried out for each other's warplanes and military personnel at certain times. Mutual commercial activities have increased and Turkey has become one of the popular destinations for Israeli tourists.

Prime Minister Erdogan's visit to Israel on May 1, 2005 was an important development in normalizing relations with Israel, which had had a politically volatile course in the early 2000s. The visit of a delegation headed by Khaled Meshaal, leader of Hamas, who won the Palestinian elections on January 25, 2006, to Turkey on February 16, 2006, created a crisis in relations with Israel. In the same period, Israel's attack targeting all Palestinian lands on 28 June 2006, on the grounds of rescuing a kidnapped soldier, and its attack on Lebanon on 13 July 2006, led to tensions in the political relations of the two countries.

On the other hand, Israel's policies towards the region and its initiatives to cooperate with the Kurds fed the opposition to Turkey in the background. It has been seen that artificial agendas are used for this. The existence of the "Islamist" AKP government in Turkey and the Turkish government's rhetoric about the geography where the Ottoman Empire was dominant for a while have been used by Israeli politicians to distance themselves. In this context, some remarkable events are listed below:

1) The claim that “The Armenian Genocide Existed, Happened” (21 August 2007) (Foxman, 2007):

Abraham H. Foxman; He said that they were a party in the warming Turkish-Armenian relationship and when the events between 1915-1918 were examined, he stated that the opinion of ADL appeared as "There was an Armenian genocide, it happened".

With this initiative of ADL, a deterioration process started in Turkey-Israel relations. ADL is an organization that has good relations with Turkey and has given statesman of the year awards to some of our politicians. As for the reactions from Turkey, this time ADL; “Yes, such a thing has happened, but there is no need for it to be recognized as genocide by the congress!” They made a statement in the meaning of (Saygun, 2012, p.283).

Jonathan Greenblatt, who replaced Foxman on May 13, 2016, also stated that he was of the same opinion and stated that the Ottoman rulers committed a genocide against the Armenian community in 2015 (Greenblatt, 2016).

It is known that one of the missions of the ADL is to "stop the defamation of the Jewish people and ensure justice and fair treatment for all". However, it is probably impossible for any Turkish citizen to understand the intention of the ADL in slandering the Turkish nation out of the blue and unjustly, and to accept the fact that the United States is taking the lead.

2) Strike of Syrian Nuclear Facility (September 5, 2007):

Eight warplanes of the Israeli Air Force carried out an air operation against the "nuclear" facility in Al Qubar, which is nearing completion in Deir ez-Zor province, 450 kilometers northeast of Damascus. On September 5, 2007, at 10:30 pm, planes taking off from two different military bases in the south of Israel bombed the buildings allegedly belonging to the nuclear facility, which was penetrated by a profile (low altitude) flight parallel to the Mediterranean and the Turkey-Syria border (BBC News Türkçe, 2018).

Meanwhile, the Turkish border was also violated and the empty fuel tanks were jettisoned to Turkish territory, probably on a planned return route. According to the estimates, the Israeli Air Force, considering the sensitivity of the mission, preferred not to leave the fuel tanks on the Syrian side in order not to leave any traces, and Turkish territory was used compulsorily with the thought that the incident would be covered up by Turkey. (It is a coincidence that, as the author of these lines, after a trip I made in the Hatay region, while I was on my way back to Diyarbakir, where I was working at that time, with my family, while passing through an area close to the Syrian border, I witnessed the traffic stop on the road. Then the road was opened. The road was temporarily suspended. When I introduced myself to the Gendarmerie personnel and asked what happened, I got the answer, "Israeli planes bombed a place, we secured their fuel tanks!"

Israel's use of Turkish lands and putting Turkey in a difficult situation against Syria manifested as an extension of American-Israeli policies. As a matter of fact, at that time, the Turkish General Staff also questioned this issue, and an apology from the Israeli Air Force and an explanation from the American were expected. The Israeli side did not even apologize and did not even make a statement. 

it didn't. The American side, on the other hand, tried to gloss over the issue (Saygun, 2012, p. 284-285).

3) Israel's Cast Lead Operation (27 December 2008) (Sarıaslan, 2019, p.1075):

Turkey assumed the role of mediator in the Palestinian issue and subsequently, indirect negotiations began between Israel and Syria. Turkey's mediation role between Syria and Israel, which started on May 21, 2008, ended with the Cast Lead Operation launched by Israel on December 27, 2008 against Gaza.

Israel's attack on Gaza, four days after the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Olmert to Ankara on December 22, 2008, where Turkey's mediation attempt was carried out, was interpreted as a great disrespect to Turkey's goodwill and mediation role. In this context, the reactions from Ankara and the developments that followed during the Israeli attacks on the Gaza strip (355 children and 100 women were killed in the operation, 1,315 Palestinians were killed) have been a turning point in terms of Turkey-Israel relations (Turhan , 2009).

4) Davos Summit “One Minute” event (29 January 2009):

Israel's Gaza operation led to a strong public reaction in Turkey. On January 29, 2009, then Prime Minister Erdogan attended the panel titled "Gaza: A Model for Peace in the Middle East" at the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, with Israeli President Peres. Addressing Peres, Erdoğan criticized Israel for using excessive force in Gaza and left the panel. The relations between the two countries entered a period of tension after this crisis, which is known as the "one minute event" because Erdogan asked the moderator to speak in English by saying "one minute" while Jerusalem was speaking to Peres.

5) Allegations of Genocide by the Israeli Land Forces Commander and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (February 2009):

After the one minute incident, General Mizrahi, the Commander of the Israeli Land Forces, declared in early February 2009 that "the Turks slaughtered the Armenians, committed genocide against the Armenians and therefore should be condemned", and his ugly approach that supposedly gave a moral lesson to the Turkish Government, Mizrahi on the reaction of the Turkish General Staff. had to apologize (Saygun, 2012, p.285).

During this period, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was expected to make efforts to re-establish bilateral relations, threatened to recognize the so-called "Armenian genocide", worsening the already tense relations between Israel and Turkey (Cumhuriyet, 2009).

6) High Seat Scandal (January 2010) (Bakır, 2010):

On January 11, 2010, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayolon invited Turkey's Tel Aviv Ambassador Oğuz Çelikkol to the Israeli Parliament Knesset in order to discuss the increasing anti-Israelism in Turkish media, especially in Turkish television series, and invited members of the press to the room before the meeting. and turning to the cameras, he said in Hebrew, "I draw your attention to the fact that we are sitting in a higher seat and he is sitting in a lower seat, there is only the Israeli flag on the table, and we are not smiling." Tensions between Ankara and Tel Aviv increased after this diplomatic crisis, which was a rematch of the events in Davos.

7) Mavi Marmara Attack (31 May 2010):

In the organization of the Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), a group of ships that set out to bring aid to Gaza was intercepted by the Israeli army in international waters and nine Turkish citizens on the Mavi Marmara ship lost their lives. Turkey also called for an extraordinary meeting of the United Nations Security Council and ensured the publication of a declaration condemning Israel's attack on the Mavi Marmara ship and containing the lifting of the blockade on Gaza.

8) Israeli Military Aircraft Use of Turkish Airspace Ban (July 2010):

Turkey showed its reaction to the Mavi Marmara Attack by forbidding Israeli military aircraft from using Turkish airspace in July 2010 in the first place.

Meanwhile, within the scope of humanitarian aid, Turkey became one of the first countries to send firefighting planes to Israel in order to respond to the forest fire in Israel's Mount Carmel on December 3, 2010, where more than forty deaths occurred (Bakır, 2016).

9) Leakage of Palmer Report (September 2, 2011):

A commission was established by the United Nations Human Rights Commission to examine the Mavi Marmara Attack. The Palmer Report prepared by the commission was met with great reaction by Turkey. In the report, while the blockade implemented by Israel was found to be legitimate in terms of 'preventing the entry of weapons into Gaza from the sea and ensuring security', it was argued that humanitarian aid should be delivered by road within the necessary procedures. Following the official publication of the report on September 2, 2011, after the UN Secretary-General's approval, Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Israel, and a year later, it renewed its diplomatic relations with Israel. 

lowered him to the level of the scribe. At the same time, military agreements were suspended.

Meanwhile, after the Mavi Marmara attack, Turkey made three demands for the re-normalization of relations with Israel: an apology from the Israeli government, compensation to the families of the deceased citizens, and lifting the blockade on Gaza. Israel; It did not show a willingness to meet Turkey's demands. This is to minimize Turkey-Israel diplomatic relations; This resulted in the suspension of all military agreements between the two countries and the suspension of all projects carried out within this framework.

While the Mavi Marmara tension was going on, Israel was one of the countries that offered earthquake aid to Turkey in the earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 in Van on October 23, 2011. Thus, there was a natural disaster convergence in relations, but the coldness in political relations continued (Bakır, 2016).

US-backed 'apology'

On March 22, 2013, US President Barack Obama brought the parties together on the phone to restore relations. One of Turkey's three conditions was fulfilled when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was with Obama in Tel Aviv, when he told Erdogan that he "apologized to the Turkish people for every mistake that led to loss of life". Netanyahu also acknowledged Israel's responsibility by stating that the operation was faulty. Israel has also promised to pay compensation ($20 million) to the families of the deceased. Thus, a temporary mild weather has taken the place of cold winds blowing in relationships (Bakır, 2016).

10)     Protective Line Operation (July 7, 2014):

The "Protective Line Operation" launched by Israel on July 7, 2014, was carried out in Gaza for 50 days and after many children and civilians lost their lives in the operation, Turkey harshly criticized Israel.

11)     Closure of Masjid al-Aqsa to Muslims (December 2014):

Towards the end of 2014, the announcement that Masjid al-Aqsa was closed to all Muslims for the first time since 1967 raised tensions in Jerusalem, and caused a harsh reaction from Turkey.

Although the break in the political relations between Turkey and Israel is generally attributed to the one-minute incident in 2009 or the Mavi Marmara attack by Israel in 2010, the first development that caused a crisis of confidence between the two countries was the claim of the ADL, "The Armenian Genocide Has Existed, Has Happened".

The "Mavi Marmara Incident"-centered negotiations between the parties for the normalization of Israel-Turkey relations were initialed on June 26, 2016 by the then-Prime Ministers Binali Yıldırım and Benjamin Netanyahu of the memorandum of understanding signed by the two sides on June 28, 2016. According to this text, it was decided that Israel should allow “$20 million compensation to the families of those who lost their lives in the Mavi Marmara raid, end the embargo imposed on Palestine, allow humanitarian aid ships to bring aid, and TOKI to build a housing project in Gaza”. connected (Demirel, 2016).

Although some progress has been made in line with this memorandum of understanding, diplomatic relations between the two countries have continued for a long time at a level that is almost non-existent. Neither side is willing to appoint ambassadors yet. The main problem between the two former allies has allegedly been the presence of high-ranking Hamas officials in Turkey. However, after years of tense relations, Turkey has recently shown that it tends to soften its foreign policy towards the region and specifically to Egypt and Israel (Euronews, 2021).

After the full re-establishment of mutual trust relations between the two countries, it is expected that ambassadors will be appointed and then military agreements and military exercises that were canceled during the crisis period are expected to be initiated.

With the phone call of the Turkish and Israeli Presidents on November 18, 2021, it was mutually confirmed that Turkey-Israel relations are also important for the security and stability of the Middle East. It has been noted that the continuation of the contact and dialogue between the two countries is in the common interest of both countries (NTV news, 2021).