Half a Turkish delight
Op-ed: Suddenly, after six years of a diplomatic crisis, Erdoğan urgently wants to turn over a new leaf. It’s hard to say, however, that Ankara and Jerusalem see eye to eye on current affairs.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the one who announced the appointment of his new ambassador to Israel .
A moment before boarding a plane, Erdoğan faced the media, explained that “after they (Israel) made a selection,” referring to the appointment of diplomat Eitan Na’eh as Israel’s ambassador to Turkey,
“it’s our turn to fulfill the agreement.”
Kemal Ökem, 50, an expert in Middle Eastern affairs, was snatched from his position as foreign policy advisor to the Turkish prime minister and sent to do his homework. He has previously served as a diplomat in Britain and Saudi Arabia.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The reconciliation agreement has not been fully resolved (Photos: AP, Kobi Gideon/GPO)
The journalists in Turkey, those who survived the arrests and the shutdown of leading media outlets, are covering the Israeli ambassador’s appointment with kit gloves. He is receiving news headlines, has been defined as a worthy appointment, and his hosts seem to be particularly interested in one of his former position—Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan. In Turkey, as in Israel, Azerbaijan is seen as a country with special strategic importance due to its close neighbor, Iran, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is almost as preoccupied with it as Erdoğan is.
Suddenly, after six years of a diplomatic crisis, Erdogan urgently wants to turn over a new leaf. It’s hard to say, however, that Ankara and Jerusalem see eye to eye on current affairs. Erdoğan wants to get rid of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Netanyahu is indifferent. Erdoğan suspects that Israel is luring the Kurds behind his back, and Israel isn’t denying it. Turkey is stuck in a deep crisis in its relations with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is consistently rejecting Ankara’s courting efforts because of his quarrels with the Muslim Brotherhood. Erdoğan is gritting his teeth over the collaborations in Sinai.
The reconciliation agreement between Turkey and Israel has not been fully resolved, either. Erdoğan insisted on lifting the Gaza blockade, while Israel only agreed to have limited Turkish presence in the strip. On the other hand, Israel's demand to expel Hamas’ military wing from Turkey is being ignored. Saleh al-Arouri, who is responsible for the abduction of the three teenagers murdered on the eve of Operation Protective Edge, remains a “guest” in Turkey along with his friends. While their activity has been limited, and there are no signs pointing to terrorism attacks originating in Turkey, Erdoğan has firmly refused to distinguish between Khaled Mashaal’s Hamas “political bureau” and the “military wing” led by al-Arouri, who moves freely between Qatar, Sudan and Turkey.
The ambassadors’ return aims to indicate a normalization orf relations. Specifically,it signals the promotion of exports and imports, economic deals and the agreement to transfer gas through Turkey, which has been signed by Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz. We should also pay attention to the fact that Stenitz's Turkish counterpart, Berat Albayrak, is one of the strongest figures to come out of the presidential palace. The same Albayrak is married to Esra, Erdoğan’s daughter. He would not have signed an agreement with Israel without the sultan’s blessing.
At the height of the affair between Tel Aviv’s Kirya Base and Ankara’s generals (who were almost all arrested or dismissed in the “July Revolution”), Israel surpassed Turkey at the top rungs of the administration in Washington. The advisors were stressed out by Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election. According to sly Erdoğan’s analysis, Netanyahu beat him to it. The Israeli prime minister’s position is secure both in Washington and in Moscow.
The Israeli ambassador to Ankara won’t have an easy time. The Islamist newspapers intentionally ignored his appointment. Erdoğan’s Turkey is carrying on with the witch-hunt against those marked as secret supporters of the exiled oppositionist Fethullah Gülen. It will be interesting to see if the defense industries resume their cooperation, if the Air Force planes go back to performing “exercise flights” in Turkey’s airspace, if the interests can blur the differences of opinion.
The amassador arriving in Tel Aviv and the one leaving for Ankara are recalculating their route—Turkey and Israel are sending their ambassadors to walk on eggshells.
