1948-1975 TURKIYE-ISRAEL RELATIONS - PART II
2. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS BETWEEN 1960-1975 AND TURKEY-ISRAEL RELATIONS
Turkey's pro-Western policies towards the Middle East changed in the 1960s. The reason for this is the decisions taken by the West against Turkey. In 1964, the U.S.'s Johnson letter on the Cyprus issue had a negative impact on Turkish-American relations, and this situation was reflected in Turkey's Middle East policies. Turkey's isolation in the Cyprus problem changed the direction of Turkish foreign policy, and it thought that it was necessary to get rid of its policies dependent on the West and improve its relations with Middle Eastern countries. During this period, Turkey, which also kept its distance from Israel, worsened its relations with Israel by supporting the Arabs in the Arab Israeli war that started in 1967. At the same time, regional events during this period significantly affected the relations of the two states.
2.1.1967 SIX-DAY WAR
The 1967 war erupted after years of escalating tensions and border clashes between Arabs and Israelis. The initial developments of the 1967 Arab Israeli war were the Syrian Israeli tensions that began to emerge in the last months of 1966. In 1966, the left wing of the Baath party, which was in power in Syria, seized power by staging a coup. With this leftist government, incidents began to break out on the Syrian Israeli border, and the new Baathists accused President Nasser of being soft on Israel and taking refuge under the wing of the UN. Fatah (a Palestinian resistance organization founded in 1959 under the leadership of Yasser Arafat) has been operating from Syrian territory since 1966. The Fedayeen began attacks on Israeli territory. When Israel complained to the UN Security Council about these attacks, there was no result against Syria due to the veto of the Soviet Union. On top of this development, Israel opposed the fedayeen attacks with harsh interventions, and tensions began to increase on the Israeli Syrian and Israeli -Jordanian borders. Israeli planes flew warplanes over Syria on April 7. Thereupon, Egypt moved towards Israel. With the tense atmosphere in the Middle East, the United States and the Soviet Union took action to prevent a possible war, but they did not achieve success. On June 5, 1967, the war officially began with the Israeli offensive. As a result of the provocations of the Arabs, the operation launched by Israel with an air raid led to developments that changed the face of the Middle East between 5-11 June 1967. Not long after, Israel defeated Jordan, Egypt and Syria and forced a ceasefire. While this event was a victory for Israel, it was a case of extreme failure for the Arab states. Turkey, on the other hand, acted cautiously in the face of developments in this process and followed a policy in line with UN resolutions on ensuring peace instead of an intervention. However, the fact that he implicitly showed that he was on the side of the Arabs led to the development of both Turkish-Arab relations and Turkey-Palestine relations. While Turkey has improved its relations with the Arabs, it has been cautious about cutting off relations by implicitly condemning Israel. The approach of Arab countries and Turkey has caused Israel concern. Turkey, which wanted to take part in the organizations established by the Arab states in the region, did not want to attract Israel's reaction and the Arabs frequently intervened in its relations with Israel. However, Turkey emphasized that it should not interfere with Turkish foreign policy with its decision.
2.2.1973 BATTLE OF YOM-KIPPUR
Egypt and Syria, who could not regain the territories lost after the wars in 1967 through diplomatic means, launched a large-scale attack against Israel because they believed that the balance of power had turned in their favor in order to erase the negative effects of the defeat, they suffered in 1967 on the world public opinion and to liberate their occupied lands. This war is called the Ramadan war because it coincides with the Muslim world in the month of Ramadan; It was called the Yom Kippur war because it coincided with Yom Kippur, a very holy day of the Israelites. One of the most important features that distinguishes this war from other wars; The Arabs wanted to regain their prestige and lands, which they lost in 1967. On October 6, 1973, the war began with the plans of Egypt and Syria. On the afternoon of October 6, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel simultaneously from two fronts. Egypt and Syria, advancing rapidly from both sides, had approached the territory of Israel. Later, however, Israel quickly regrouped, counterattacked, and repelled the Syrian forces. Israel, which was advancing rapidly, slowed down the advance of the Egyptian Forces. On October 22, the United Nations Security Council called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, resulting in the United States, the Soviet Union, and the UN reaching an armistice agreement between the warring powers through diplomatic intervention. The war brought about significant changes in the relations between the Arab states and Israel, and between Israel and Turkey.
Turkey, which declared its neutrality as before, voted in favor of the Arabs in the UN vote and stood by the Arab states, although it declared that it was neutral. At the same time, Turkey has once again shown that it is on the side of the Arab states by not allowing the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey to be used to help Israel in order to send support to Israel. While these developments and Turkey's statement that it will continue to support the legitimate demands of Arab states were welcomed in the Arab world, they had a negative impact on Turkey-Israel relations. However, Turkey has tried to keep its relations with Israel, which are at a low level, at the same level.
Egypt, an important country in the Arab world that put the most pressure on Turkey because of its relations with Israel, has pursued a policy of rapprochement with the United States and has faced the reaction of the Arab world due to this policy. Egypt, which made improvements in its relations with Israel, became the first Arab state to recognize Israel's existence by signing a permanent peace treaty on March 26, 1979, which led to the normalization of ties between the two countries.
TODAY'S TURKEY-ISRAEL POLITICAL RELATIONS
In June 2016, an agreement was reached to normalize bilateral relations. In this context, the 'Procedural Agreement on Compensation' between the two parties was signed on 28 June 2016. Today, Israeli-Turkish relations have begun to normalize. Relations, which were normalized at the end of 2016 with the mutual appointment of ambassadors, were soon strained again. In December 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and the relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem disrupted Turkey-Israel relations. Thereupon, Turkey summoned its ambassador to Tel Aviv on May 15, 2018. Relations with the newly elected leaders in Israel have entered the stage of improvement. Turkey has taken care to improve relations with Israel in order to break its isolation in foreign policy. Another issue has been the attitude of the peoples. The people of Turkey do not have a positive attitude towards relations with Israel. Protests were held in front of the Israeli Embassy during Israel's attacks on Gaza. It is said that the Israeli people have a more positive view of Turkey. It is making efforts to improve relations in the two countries. However, the conflicts between Palestine and Israel in the Middle East in the future damage the relations of both countries. During the normalization process, Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog paid an official visit to Turkey on March 9-10, 2022. However, after the 2023 Al-Aqsa Mosque clashes, Turkey has again condemned and taken a harsh stance. Turkey, which decided to start the normalization process with Israel again in the future, met with President Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on September 20, 2023. However, with the Hamas-Israel war that started on October 7, the normalization process was disrupted, and Turkey took a very harsh stance.
TODAY'S TURKEY-ISRAEL ECONOMIC RELATIONS
Billion dollars
|
Years |
Export |
İmport |
|
2022 |
6,7 |
2,2 |
|
2021 |
6,1 |
1,9 |
|
2020 |
4,6 |
1,4 |
|
2019 |
4,4 |
1,7 |
|
2018 |
3,9 |
1,7 |
|
2017 |
3,4 |
1,5 |
|
2016 |
3 |
1,4 |
|
2015 |
2,7 |
1,7 |
|
2014 |
3 |
2,8 |
|
2013 |
2,6 |
2,2 |
|
2012 |
2,3 |
1,7 |
|
2011 |
2,4 |
2,1 |
|
2010 |
2,1 |
1,4 |
|
2009 |
1,5 |
1,1 |
|
2008 |
1,9 |
1,4 |
|
2007 |
1,7 |
1,1 |
|
2006 |
1,5 |
0,8 |
|
2005 |
1,5 |
0,8 |
|
2004 |
1,3 |
0,7 |
|
2003 |
1,1 |
0,5 |
|
2002 |
0,9 |
0,5 |
|
2001 |
0,8 |
0,5 |
|
2000 |
0,7 |
0,7 |
|
Year |
Export |
İmport |
|
2002 |
%2,39 |
%1,06 |
|
2022 |
%2,87 |
%0,63 |
Table 1.2 Israel's share in Turkey's total exports and imports
According to the Turkish Statistic Data
system, while Israel's share in Turkey’s exports was 2.39% in 2002, this rate
increased to 2.87% in 2022. Israel's share in imports decreased from 1.06% to
0.63% in the same period.
RESULT
The Middle East has faced many crises throughout history.
Both the existence of non-regional powers trying to control the region for
their interests and the inability of the regional states to find solutions to
the problems in unity have led to the continuation of tensions. The Arab
Israeli conflict, which has continued since the establishment of the State of
Israel, has led to instability in the region. Founded in 1948, Israel's desire
to ensure its security and achieve the promised land has led to continuous
conflicts with
Arab states. As a result of the wars with
the Arabs, it started to expand its territory with the support it received from
the West and had the opportunity to dominate the Palestinian lands. This
situation has made it difficult for peace and stability to come to the region.
Relations between Turkey and Israel have been going on
since the establishment of Israel. Although Israeli-Turkish relations, which
have made progress since the 1950s, have been adversely affected by the crises
in the region, they have not completely ended diplomatic relations. While the
wars of 1956, 1967 and 1973 that broke out in the region respectively ravaged
the Middle East, it was seen that Turkey followed policies towards the Middle
East in its foreign policy. Turkey, which does not want to change its relations
with the West, has displayed a pragmatic behavior by carrying out a policy of
balance with both the Middle East and the West.
The Arab Israeli conflicts in the region have been an obstacle to the full stabilization of the region. The fact that Israel is constantly at war with the states in the region and does not want to comply with the agreements prevents the peace that will come to the region. However, in the context of its relations with Turkey, Israel did not feel alone in the Middle East and wanted to maintain diplomatic relations with Turkey's support. In this way, Turkey has made efforts to ensure security and stability in the region.
RESOURCES
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