Israel’s souring relations with onetime ally Turkey took a turn for the worse Friday September 2nd as Turkey announced it would formally expel Israel’s ambassador and suspend military agreements. Relations between Turkey and Israel have worsened since Israeli forces boarded the Mavi Marmara aid ship in May last year as it was heading for Gaza. Nine Turkish activists were killed during the raid. Israel has refused to apologize and said its troops acted in self-defense.
- Turkey’s recent decision to increase its naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean – and not just to deter Israeli operations against Gaza activists – is a serious one. Turkey is protesting against the exploration of gas reserves by the government of Cyprus, because it does not recognize the area as Cypriot territorial waters. Israel has recognized them, and hopes to source future natural gas supplies there.
- Turkish officials have hinted that they might impose economic sanctions, file legal actions against Israel in international courts and assist Palestinians in their upcoming U.N. bid for statehood recognition.
- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also threatened to make an official visit to Hamas-controlled Gaza, affording legitimacy to an enclave that Israel has worked to isolate.
- Turkey has suspended diplomatic and military relations with Israel, expelling its top diplomats while Turkey had withdrawn its diplomats after the Gaza Flotilla incident.
“Today, we reached a point where Israel has, in fact, spent all the chances that were given to them. The Israeli government, however, see themselves (as being) above international laws and human conscience,” the Turkish Foreign Minister said.
Minister Tayyip Erdogan this week coolly moved his country step by provocative step towards an armed clash with Israel – not just over the Palestinian issue, but because he covets the gas and oil resources of the eastern Mediterranean opposite Israel’s shores.
Thursday night, Sept. 8, he announced that Turkish warships will escort any Turkish aid vessels for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In his remarks to Al Jazeera television, the Turkish prime minister also said he had taken steps “to stop Israel from unilaterally exploiting natural resources from the eastern Mediterranean.” Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan saw “grounds for war” with Israel last year after a deadly raid on a Turkish ship headed for Gaza, according to a transcript of a recent interview.
If Turkish ships breach the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza, which a UN report last week pronounced legitimate under international law, Erdogan will become the first Muslim leader to embark on military action in the Palestinian cause. The Arab nations which fought Israel time after time in the past will be made to look ineffectual and the Turkish leader the regional big shot.
Even Iran would be put in the shade for never daring to provoke Israel the way Turkey has. The Turkish prime minister clings to the belief that the foremost Arab powers, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which have watched his maneuvers with deep suspicion, will have no choice but to play ball with him now that he has confronted Israel. The first crack in the Arab ice came about Thursday, Sept. 8, in the form of Egyptian consent to join the Turkish Navy in sea maneuvers in the eastern Mediterranean.
Support for Ankara suggested that Israel ought to get used to the fact that this is a “new Turkey,” that Israel must realize this is not the 1990s when Israel maintained working relations with the Turkish government and the Turkish army, “and showed disdain for what the public really wanted.” Meanwhile the generals that supported relations with Israel have long been jailed or have retired.
Turkey wants political clout and opposing Israel is a politically a unifying path to get there.