Turkish-Israeli relations: An apology is not the remedy

By: Alan Levine

The UN’s report on the Gaza flotilla of May 2010 was due to be released this week. The report release date, however, has now been delayed until August 20 in order to allow Israel and Turkey to come to an understanding over the incident and to right the course of the two countries’ bilateral relationship.

Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey has been demanding an Israeli apology for a year and his foreign minister has explicitly threatened to cut ties with Israel if there is no apology. This week Erdogan issued a vague threat to move to “plan B” with Israel. He also threatened recently to visit Gaza.

Israel’s policy is still unclear. Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman recently said Israel will not apologize. Israel’s defense minister this week said Israel should partially apologize, and Vice Prime Minister, Moshe Ya’alon said last week that Turkey is making reconciliation “impossible.”

The diplomatic bickering has been almost comical. There was controversy last year when Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon met with the Turkish ambassador to Israel and had the ambassador sit in a lower chair—a move for which Ayalon later apologized.

While Israel may yet choose to apologize, an apology will not be enough to bring relations with Turkey back to where they once were. The flotilla is a result of previously strained Turkish-Israeli relations. It is not the other way around. That is why the Erdogan government turned a blind eye to the flotilla in the first place. While an apology may still be imminent, it will only treat the symptom, not the disease.

Israeli-Turkish relations—as well as Turkish relations with the West—have been strained since well before the flotilla. This diplomatic rift has been entirely the choosing of Turkey’s Islamist government, which came to power in 2002. Just look at some of the comments made by Prime Minister Erdogan before the flotilla:

• Erdogan said that Israel was a “threat to world peace” a month before his government signed off on the flotilla.
• Immediately following Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, he said Israel “should be barred from the UN.”
• And who can forget Erdogan’s “you killed people” rant against Israeli President Shimon Peres, when he stormed off the stage at the Davos Conference.

Criticizing Israel is a convenient political card, and talk is cheap. But Erdogan has backed up his talk with actions.

Ankara left Israel out of a multi-national military drill last October, even amid pressure from the United States. Ankara’s dis-invitation of Israel ultimately meant no U.S. participation in the drill. Ankara was not moved.

On Iran, Turkey has undermined the position of the United States and the West. In June of 2010, Turkey voted against Iran sanctions in the UN Security Council. Turkey had made its own deal with Iran a month earlier, promising to hold Iranian low-enriched uranium and to send it back with higher enrichment a year later. The move was seen as an undermining of American efforts on Iran at the time.

The Iranian leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, came to Turkey a year before that in August 2008. Israel—pre-Cast Lead and pre-flotilla—expressed dissaproval at the time. The meeting resulted in an energy cooperation deal between Iran and Turkey, again undermining U.S. efforts to isolate Iran.

No one is sure how to explain Turkey’s behavior. It may be in a strategic realignment with Iran. Turkey may be interested in competing for the leadership of the Muslim world. It may be—as a Wikileaks U.S. embassy cable assessed—that “Erdogan simply hates Israel”. The Turkish government is probably best explained as a combination of the above.

But one thing is clear: Turkey is not canceling military drills, standing up to the United States, signing nuclear energy deals, and voting at the UN based on an incident with “peace activists” on a boat.

An Israeli apology may sound nice for the time being, but it will be like a band-aid for a gun shot wound. Fixing relations with Turkey while this Islamist government is in power will be a much bigger challenge.

Barak: We must apologize for flotilla errors, Yitzhak Benhorin, Ynetnews

Erdogan threatens to further downgrade diplomatic ties with Israel, Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post

Iran Draws the Line with Turkey on Syria, Kaveh Afrasiabi, Asia Times

Iran and Turkey Circle Syria, Meir Javedanfar, The Diplomat