Progress in relations between Israel and Turkey
RAMALLAH, Palestine (North Press) – A progress has been made in smoothing out the relationship between Israel and Turkey after years of controlled tension, a politician from 48 Palestine, said on Saturday.
However, the failure to form a stable government in Israel remains a barrier to the process of reciprocating their ambassadors, according to the politician, who preferred not to be named.
In an exclusive interview with North Press, he stressed that the tension between the two countries in the past period was political, but that security and economic cooperation in various fields would not be affected.
For ten years, Israeli-Turkish relations have gone through years of ups and downs, especially after the Mavi Marmara Ship case in 2010.
At that time, Ankara reduced its diplomatic representation in Israel and expelled the Israeli ambassador.
However, on March 22, 2013, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and apologized for the Mavi Marmara incident.
They agreed to re-normalize the relations, and Israel appointed Eitan Naih as ambassador to Turkey, and in return Turkey appointed Kemal Okam as ambassador to Israel.
Relations remained stable until 2018, when Turkey recalled its ambassadors to Israel and the United States against the backdrop of the Gaza Border Protests 2018-2019, and expelled the Israeli ambassador.
Recently, Turkey has changed its foreign policy in the Middle East in general and with regard to Israel in particular.
In November 2020, the Turkish President announced that Turkey wants to improve its relations with Israel, and he he indicated that his country’s intelligence relations with Israel are continuing.
In an election conference on March 10, the Israeli Prime Minister said that Israel was in talks with Turkey, while referring to Israel’s excellent relations with countries in the Middle East.
High-ranking political sources in Israel said that despite all the incidents that caused tense relations between Israel and Turkey, the two countries did not sever diplomatic relations between them.
The sources pointed out that the two countries succeeded in separating the economy from politics, and helped each other in “humanitarian issues”, and that the channels of dialogue remained always open.
The sources indicated that Turkey’s increasing isolation in the region and the tense relations with Washington are pushing it to make offers to normalize relations with countries in the region, including Israel.
Israel would not object to improve its relations with Turkey, but it wanted to ensure its “intentions” and would deal with the matter with “great caution,” according to the sources.