PrintMay 26, 2013
Why Israel-Turkey Relations will not Change
Unlike diplomatic crises that often occur between friendly nations, the crisis between Israel and Turkey does not stem from a direct act or the result of an omission on the part of Israel. We all remember the mess following the Australian Passports snarl (and more recently, the Zygier affair) and the like; in these diplomatic crises, countries choose to cooperate to end the story quickly. The matter at hand is totally different.
Over the last decade, Turkish citizens chose an Islamist leadership and has turned from a friendly to a hostile country. The rise to power in 2002 of the Islamic Party marks an ideological process that is similar (though not identical) to that of the Ayatollah regime which came to power in Iran in 1979. The Israeli apology to Turkey, accordingly, fell on the ears of a person with a worldview closer to that of Ahmadinejad than the Australian prime minister.
In order to understand the current crisis between Israel and Turkey, firstly we should understand the...(Read Full Article)
