Israel-Turkey relations

Israel	Turkey

Turkey-Israel relations date to March 28, 1949, when Turkey became the first Muslim country to formally recognize the State of Israel. ^[1][2] Since then, Israel has been a major supplier of arms to Turkey. Military, strategic, and diplomatic cooperation between Turkey and Israel is accorded high priority by the governments of both countries, which share concerns with respect to the regional instabilities in the Middle East.^[3][4][5] Ever since Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan harshly condemned Israel's campaign during the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, relations between both countries have becomed strained. ^[6][7]

History

Part of a series on the
Politics of Israel
Basic Laws Jerusalem Law Law of Return
Presidency President (list) Isaac Herzog
Executive Prime Minister (list) Benjamin Netanyahu Alternate Prime Minister Office of the Prime Minister Deputy leaders Cabinet Current (37th) Security Cabinet Kitchen Cabinet Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara
Legislature Knesset Speaker: Amir Ohana Members (Arab) Leader of the Opposition Yair Lapid Knesset Guard State Comptroller
Elections Political parties Elections Law Central Elections Committee Referendums
Judiciary Supreme Court President: Esther Hayut
Administrative divisions Districts Local government Municipalities Local councils Regional councils
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diplomatic missions of / in Israel Ambassadors Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy Arab League International law Status of territories Status of the Golan Heights Israel and the United Nations Israel and the United States Israel and the European Union
Israel portal Other countries

During the Turkic migrations

The Turkic kingdom, Khazaria, became a safe haven for Jews all over the world. The Russians clearly tried to overrun this kingdom, and after several attempts, Prince Svyatoslav I of Kiev conquered the Khazar fortress of Sarkel in 965. It is believed that he conquered Itil two years later, after which he campaigned in the Balkans.

During the Ottoman rule

A key moment in Judeo-Turkic relations occurred in 1492, when more than 150,000 Spanish Jews fled the Spanish Inquisition, many to the Ottoman Empire. At that point in time, Constantinople's population was a mere 70,000 due to the various sieges of the city during the Crusades and the so-called Black Death of the 14th century, so this historical event was also significant for its repopulation of the city. These Sephardic Jews settled in Constantinople as well as Thessaloniki, which came to be known as "Mother Of Israel" due to its overwhelming Jewish majority.

Republic of Turkey and the establishment of Israel

Turkey also served as a transit for European Jews fleeing Nazi persecution during the 1930s and 1940s, although it was implicated in the Struma disaster.^[8][9]

Arab-Israeli conflict

After the 1967 war, Turkey joined Arab nations in condemning Israeli actions. While it called for Israel to withdraw, it did not refer to Israel as an "aggressor state". In December 1987, after the commencement of the Palestinian intifada, Turkey denounced "Israeli oppression", and supported the Palestinians’ right to self-determination. In 2004, Turkey denounced Israeli assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, as a "terrorist act". It also described the Israeli policy in the Gaza Strip as "state-sponsored terrorism." ^[10][11]

Current relations

Strategic cooperation

Despite the cool relations since the accession of the Justice and Development Party in Turkey,^[12] the Israeli Foreign Ministry characterized its relations with Turkey as "perfect" in the beginning of 2006. However, in February 2006, a visit paid by Khaled Meshal, a leader of the newly elected Hamas, changed this status. Israeli diplomats went so far as to compare this visit to a possible official visit of Abdullah Öcalan (the imprisoned PKK leader) to Israel, but Turkish authorities immediately denounced this comparison as "irresponsible and erroneous". After Khaled Meshal paid an official visit to Turkey, Turkish-Israeli relations entered a "cooling down" process. Some have suggested that this was only a public relations stunt to show the Islamic world that Turkey was on their side because Turkey had been silent in major issues important to Arabs and the Islamic community like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Lebanon crisis.^[13]

Talks regarding the sale of Israeli Ofeq satellites and Arrow missile air-defence systems to Turkey have taken place, pending United States approval. The systems would be a generational leap for the Turkish military and intelligence capabilities.^[14]

Israel provided Turkey with information about Armenian, Kurdish and other militant groups receiving training in PLO camps. Israel subsequently destroyed the training center of the Armenian militant organization ASALA, killing its leader. ^[15]

Diplomatic relations

Israel maintains two diplomatic missions in Turkey: Its embassy is located in the Turkish capital, Ankara, and its Consulate General is located in Turkey's biggest city, Istanbul.^[16] The Israeli ambassador to Turkey is Pinhas Avivi. The embassy's consular reception hours are from Monday to Friday, 10am to 1pm, and it has jurisdiction for Israeli consular affairs for all the Turkish territory.^[17] The Embassy compound is located in:

Mahatma Gandhi Street
85 G.O.P
Ankara
Tel: +90-312-4463605
Fax: +90-312-4468071
E-mail: info@ankara.mfa.gov.il.

The Israeli Consul General to Istanbul is Mordehai Amihai.^[18] The embassy's consular reception hours are from Monday to Friday, 10am to 1pm, and it has jurisdiction for Israeli consular affairs for the Marmara, Aegean, Eastern Thrace and western part of the Black Sea regions of Turkey.^[19] The Consulate compound is located in:

Yapi Kredi Plaza
C Blok K. 7 Levent
Istanbul
Tel: +90 212 317 65 00
Fax: +90 212 317 65 55.

On a three-day visit to Ankara in November 2007, Israeli President Shimon Peres met with Turkish President Abdullah Gül, and addressed the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the first time an Israeli President has addressed a Muslim country's parliament. Peres and Gul differed on what action was to be taken regarding Iran's nuclear program, Peres publicly saying that he didn't believe energy-rich Iran was interested in nuclear power. Gul said that he would work to free the abducted Israeli soldiers Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser, and Eldad Regev.^[14][20]

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

A joint Israeli-Palestinian industrial park is being developed under the Turkish aegis. Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the Grand National Assembly of Turkey a day apart to discuss resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and greater Arab-Israeli conflict weeks before the 2007 Mideast peace conference at Annapolis, Maryland. Peres said that "Turkey is an important player in the Middle East in relation to the United States,Syria and the Palestinians, as well as us."^[14] According to the Jerusalem Post, a spokeswoman for the Syrian Foreign Ministry indicated to a Kuwaiti newspaper that "Turkey is used as a channel of communication" between Syria and Israel.^[21]

2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict

During the conflict of Israel and Gaza in 2008-2009, in which 1300 Palestinians were killed, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Israel to halt and withdraw all of its military operations, he described Israel's actions as a "crime against humanity", and slammed Israel with harsh words, saying it could create extreme tensions between the Muslim countries. ^[22] He has also held negotiations with Arab nations including, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The conflict is believed to have damaged relations with Israel.^[23][24] The people of Turkey reacted with mass demonstrations against Israel across different cities, with the largest in Istanbul, with at least up to 200,000 people.^[25][26] Weeks after the ceasefire of the conflict, relations between the nations became increasingly strained, when during the World Economic Forum in Davos at 29 January 2009, Prime Minister Erdogan, walked out of the forum in protest. The debate turned politically related to the Gaza conflict, which Erdogan clashed with the Israeli President Shimon Peres beside him over the war, and harshly criticized Israel, and said: "You are killing people." He also accused the moderator of giving extra time for Peres to speak (25 min) in comparison to the maximum of 12-15 minutes.^[27][28][29]

Economic relations

Turkey and Israel are trade partners thanks to the geographical proximity, the good ties and the friendship. Each country is complimenting the other with different type of industries. In 2007 Turkey became Israel's 8th largest trade partner.^{[citation needed]} The trade between Turkey and Israel is based on a Free Trade Area agreement that was signed in 1997 and allows free circulation of trade between the two countries. In 2007 the volume of the bilateral trade has reached a new record of almost three billions US dollars. In the first nine months of 2008 the trade has increased in more than 30% in comparing to 2007.

The Israeli and Turkish navies have conducted joint exercises. There is a plan to build a massive pipeline from Turkey to supply water, electricity, gas and oil to Israel.^[30] In 2000, Israel and Turkey signed a free-trade agreement.^[31]

See also

• Foreign relations of Turkey
• Foreign relations of Israel
• History of the Jews in Turkey
• List of Turkish diplomats
• Ambassadors of Israel
• Jewish Museum of Turkey
• List of synagogues in Turkey

References

External links

• [2]
• Embassy of Israel in Ankara, Turkey
• Consulate General of Israel in Istanbul, Turkey
• A timeline of Turkey-Israel relations by the Washington Institute of Near East Studies
• [3]
• [4]
• "Will Turkey be complicit in another war against another neighbour?". CASMII. February 24, 2008.