1948-1975 TURKIYE-ISRAEL RELATIONS - PART I
ABSTRACT
The state of Israel was
officially established in 1948 with the support of western powers such as the
United States and Britain, which emerged victorious from the Second World War.
Turkey, on the other hand, was the first country with a Muslim population to
recognize Israel. In the early 1950s, we see that cooperation and partnership
developed in Turkey-Israel relations, and the main reason for this was that the
foreign policy perceptions of the two countries were based on the security
threat. Israel's isolation in the region and Turkey's vigilance against the
Soviet threat, which would take advantage of the vacuum in the region, brought
these two states closer to each other. However, it has been observed that the
Israeli-Arab conflict in the region, Turkey's anti-Israel policy, which draws
attention both in the region and in the international system, has made
statements in favor of the Arab from time to time and has made harsh statements
on the Palestinian issue. In this context, while the early 1950s were mostly
handled on the basis of cooperation, it was seen that the Suez crisis that
emerged after 1956 and the Arab Israeli wars that emerged in 1967 and 1973
negatively affected both the regional states and the relations of the western
states. In this study, it is examined how these events that cause instability
among the states of the region and how the plans of the western states on the
region are shaped and concluded due to the events.
Keywords: Turkey, İsrael, Foreign policy, Relations of Turkey and Israel, Disputes between Arab and İsrael, War.
ÖZET
İsrail devleti, İkinci Dünya
Savaşı'ndan galip çıkan ABD ve İngiltere gibi batılı güçlerin desteğiyle
1948'de resmen kuruldu. Türkiye ise İsrail'i tanıyan ilk Müslüman nüfusa sahip
ülke oldu. 1950'li yılların başında Türkiye-İsrail ilişkilerinde iş birliği ve
ortaklığın geliştiği görülmekte ve bunun temel nedeni iki ülkenin dış politika
algılarının güvenlik tehdidi üzerine kurulu olmasıdır. İsrail'in bölgedeki
yalnızlığı, Türkiye'nin bölgedeki boşluktan yararlanmaya çalışan Sovyet
tehdidine karşı tetikte olması ve ABD'nin İsrail'le sıcak ilişkisi bu iki
devleti birbirine yakınlaştırmıştır. Ancak bölgedeki Arap-İsrail çatışması,
Türkiye'nin zaman zaman Arap devletleri lehine kararlar alması ve Filistin
meselesinde sert çıkışları, Türkiye'nin hem bölgede hem de uluslararası alanda
İsrail karşıtı politikalar izlediğini göstermiştir. Bu bağlamda 1950'li
yılların başları daha çok işbirliği temelinde ele alınırken, 1956 yılında
ortaya çıkan Süveyş krizi ile 1967 ve 1973 yıllarında ortaya çıkan Arap İsrail
çatışmalarının hem bölge devletlerini hem de batılı devletlerin bölge
devletleriyle ilişkilerini olumsuz etkilediği görülmüştür. Bu çalışmada bölge
devletleri arasında istikrarsızlığa neden olan olayların ve batılı devletlerin
bölge üzerindeki politikalarının olaylar nedeniyle nasıl şekillendiği ve
sonuçlandırıldığı ve günümüz Türkiye-İsrail ilişkilerinin ne ölçüde ilerlediği
incelenmektedir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Türkiye,
İsrail, dış politika, Türkiye-İsrail ilişkileri, Arap-İsrail çatışmaları,
savaş.
INTRODUCTION
Since the idea of establishing a Jewish state in the Middle East was introduced, conflicts and disputes between many Arab states, especially the Ottoman Empire, and Israel began and became a habit that continues to this day. The state of Israel was officially established in 1948 with the support of the United States and Britain, which emerged victorious from the Second World War. Turkey, on the other hand, was the first Muslim country to recognize the state of Israel. The main purpose of Turkey's proximity to Israel is to follow a pro-Western policy and to take an active role in the region. However, as mentioned above, the Arab Israeli conflicts and disputes in the region, which started from the past and still extend to the present, have led to changes in Turkey's attitude towards Israel. Acting in line with the needs that have developed over time, Turkey has sometimes sided with the Arab states and sometimes felt the need to soften its attitudes towards Israel due to its attitude towards the West. Some Western-backed treaties, especially in the 1950s, paved the way for Turkey to play an active role in this region and played a leading role in these agreements. The most important of these is the Baghdad Pact: It is a security pact formed against the Soviet threat in the Middle East region with the support of states such as Britain, Turkey and Iraq. However, situations such as Britain's wrong strategies and the inability to see the threat arising from the spread of Arab nationalism caused the collapse of this pact and this pact was dissolved in a short time. After the pact, important crises emerged in this region, the most important of which was the Suez Canal crisis. Egyptian leader Nasser, who wanted to nationalize the Suez Canal, was subjected to military interventions by Israel and France, especially Britain, in 1956. Turkey has stood against Egypt's policy of nationalizing the Suez Canal and on the side of the West. In the face of this situation, which caused the reactions of Arab states and societies, Turkey had to distance itself from its relations with Israel. The aim of this study is to observe the important events that affected Turkey-Israel relations until the 1970s and to examine the political and economic relations of the events on the states in the region. The observation of these events enables the current level of relations between Turkey and Israel and the evaluation of the relations in the context of the Arab Israeli conflict.
HISTORY OF ISRAEL
Jews are a nation that has lived in isolation for centuries in Christian Europe. They have not been able to have direct equal rights and political power. For this reason, centuries of discrimination against Jews in Europe eventually led to the idea of establishing a state of their own among the Jews. The person who would pioneer the idea of Jewish statehood was Theodor Herzl, a journalist and the father of today's political Zionism. According to Herzl, Jews sought to establish a homeland for themselves because they could not integrate into the societies of the countries in which they lived as generally excluded minorities. For this reason, under the leadership and thanks to Herzl's efforts, the world Zionist organization was established at the first world Zionist congress held in Basel in 1897. According to the aim of the Zionist organization, it is aimed to establish a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine under the guarantee of law. However, the Palestine territories under Ottoman rule during this period required the Zionists to focus their attention on the Ottomans. Herzl, who appeared before more than one Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II, was initially received positively, but the results were negative. For this reason, the Zionists' plan to establish a Jewish state in Palestine was rejected by the Ottomans every time. Therefore, Herzl understood that the road to Palestine did not pass through Istanbul and turned his route to England. Taking advantage of the weakened Ottoman state as it approached the 1st World War, the Jews sided with Britain and focused on Palestine for the Jewish national homeland they targeted. In this process, Britain, which was the most supportive of the idea of the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, published the Balfour Declaration on November 2, 1917, which supported the British Zionist movement. With this declaration, the idea of establishing a Jewish state on Palestinian land was supported. Therefore, Britain occupies an important position in the history of Israel. After this decision, the Zionists tried to persuade Jews scattered all over the world to emigrate to Palestine. The genocides committed against the Jews, especially during the Nazi period, caused thousands of Jews to migrate to the Palestinian lands. Over the years, the number of Jews who have immigrated to the Palestinian territories has increased compared to the Palestinian population. The increasing Jewish population has brought about Arab Israeli conflicts in the region. In the following years, these increasing disputes turned into conflicts and this issue was brought to the UN. Although the resolutions taken by the UN were not satisfactory for both sides at first, the idea of establishing a Jewish state in the region in 1948 was satisfactory for the Jews, and many countries, including Turkey, approved this idea. In this way, a Jewish state was officially established in the Palestinian territories in 1948, and the USA, France and Turkey were among the first to recognize this state.
DEVELOPMENT OF TURKEY-ISRAEL RELATIONS
Israeli-Turkish relations have been established since Turkey's recognition of Israel. Turkey, the first Muslim country to recognize Israel, has been targeted and condemned by many Arab states. However, Turkey's desire to play an active role in the western channels, its desire to facilitate NATO membership, and the aid it wants to receive from the United States have made significant contributions to the development of its relations with Israel. Turkey started diplomatic relations with Israel and the first diplomatic representation was officially opened on January 7, 1950. With the change of power after the 1950 elections in Turkey, Turkey-Israel relations continued without slowing down. Celal Bayar's statements regarding the official recognition of Israel and the continuous cooperation efforts of the two states have further strengthened the relations between the two states. While Turkey attaches great importance to its relations with Israel, it has also tried not to distance itself from the Arab states. At the same time, the religiously dense Middle East region has remained far from democracy and the concept of secularism. Going beyond this understanding, Turkey and Israel's adoption of the secular state model in the administration and the implementation of the western economic model in the economy have increased the interaction of the two states in the region. The two states, which strengthened their mutual relations, appointed ambassadors and negotiated treaties. During this period, a Turkey-Israel trade agreement was signed. In this way, important steps have been taken to ensure the continuity of mutual trade relations. Growing commercial activities every year have increased the foreign trade volume of the two states. By 1953, the volume of foreign trade, which reached significant figures, reached record levels in Turkey. Commercial activities, which provided significant income for the two countries, also met the basic needs of the countries. Turkey, which meets Israel's cotton and wheat needs, has also procured cement and electrical appliances from Israel in return. The rapprochement between Turkey and Israel is not only limited to the political and economic fields, but also in the sports and cultural fields, mutual relations have been tried to be developed at all levels. After Turkey's recognition of Israel, important steps have been taken in the relations between the two countries, especially in the commercial and political fields. Turkey-Israel relations, which developed at a good level until 1955, were interrupted due to regional events.
1.1950-1960 REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS AND TURKEY - ISRAEL RELATIONS
With the establishment of Israel, many changes have
taken place in the Middle East. While the most important of these changes was
the Nasser administration coming to power as a result of the coup d'état in
Egypt, it is observed that the Nasser administration and the England and the
Nasser administration were completely at opposite poles. Egyptian leader Nasser
saw himself as the Arab leader of the region and therefore intended to remove
Britain, which stood in his way. In this way, the anti-British demonstrations
that started in Egypt led to the signing of some agreements between Egypt and
England. However, the fact that Britain does not want to completely break away
from the Middle East, especially Egypt, is due to the fact that the Suez Canal
is in an important geopolitical position for the UK. Feeling the Soviet threat
on its neck, Britain did not decide to completely withdraw from corn in every
agreement it made with Egypt. The Suez Treaty signed between Egypt and Britain
in 1954 melted the ice between the two and normalized relations. However,
relations have reversed with the US stepping into the region. After the
establishment of NATO on April 4, 1949, against Soviet expansionism and
imperialism in Europe, America turned to the Middle East. Sensing a security
threat in the Middle East, the United States envisaged the establishment of a
collective pact against Soviet imperialism in the Middle East. However, the Arabs felt the security threat
not from the Soviets but from the presence of Israel. Therefore, the Arabs'
anti-Israel sentiment continued during this period. For this reason, Israel has
tried to balance the Arab states in the Middle East by trying to strengthen its
cooperation with non-Arab states, especially Turkey.
1.2. THE BAGHDAD PACT AND ITS
IMPACT ON TURKEYISRAEL RELATIONS
After World War 2, the USA, France, Britain and Turkey came together to establish a security organization in the Middle East in order to prevent the expansion of the Soviet Union. While one of the most important events that formed the basis for the establishment of this organization was the cooperation and friendship agreement signed between Pakistan and Turkey, another important event was the visit of the US Secretary of State Dulles to the Middle East in the spring of 1953. The U.S., which withdrew itself in the following years, brought Turkey to the fore for the establishment of the organization. Turkey, which wanted to get closer to the Western side and take an active role in the Middle East, signed the Baghdad pact with Iraq on February 24, 1955. In this pact, Pakistan and Iran, especially the UK, later joined, and the USA took part in the observer status. The main reason why the US does not participate in this pact is that it does not want to attract the criticism of the Jewish lobby. Important steps were taken to get other Arab countries to join this pact, but many Arab states, especially Egypt, perceived the Baghdad pact as a threat to their future. Emphasizing that this pact serves Israeli and western interests, the Arab states considered the Baghdad pact invalid. The Baghdad pact also had a negative impact on Israeli-Turkish relations. The Baghdad pact, which was mostly trying to bring the Arab states into cooperation with the West, was not welcomed by Israel and also caused it to feel alone in the region. Turkey has actively entered Middle East politics with the Baghdad pact. Turkey, which has been trying to increase its influence in the region with Western-supported and exiting policies, has not been able to get the desired result on the Arabs. The Baghdad pact, led by Turkey, also failed to achieve its goals. The pact, which mostly tried to bring the Arabs together and bring them closer to the West, did not achieve the expected goal, on the contrary, it caused confusion among the Arabs. Turkey, which had a bad relationship with Israel as well as the Arabs, reduced the level of its diplomatic relations with Israel during this period.
1.3. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SUEZ CANAL AND THE SUEZ CRISIS IN 1956 AND TURKEY-ISRAEL RELATIONS
The Suez crisis, an important event that emerged after the Baghdad Pact, escalated the tension in the Middle East. The Suez crisis, which emerged after Egyptian leader Nasser's decision to nationalize the Suez Canal in 1956, also negatively affected the relationship between Israel and Turkey. The Suez Canal, which causes crises between states, is a very important waterway not only for the region but also for facilitating commercial activities in the world. The Suez Canal is a man-made waterway that runs from north to south along the isthmus of Suez at sea level in Egypt to connect the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The Suez Canal, which separates the Asian continent from the African continent, constitutes the shortest sea route between the European continent and the Asian continent. At the same time, the Suez Canal is one of the busiest commercial routes in the world. In 1858, the Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps founded the Suez Canal Company to build the Suez Canal on the Egyptian isthmus. The construction of the canal lasted from 1859 to 1869. The canal was officially opened on November 17, 1869. For over 150 years, the Suez Canal has provided a maritime trade route between Europe and the Indian and Pacific oceans and surrounding lands. Today, the Suez Canal remains the fastest and most direct maritime trade link between Asia and Europe.
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