Jerusalem violence risks scuppering Turkey’s reconciliation with Israel

Any chance of a genuine thaw in Turkey-Israel relations has become an afterthought amid ongoing violence between Israeli security forces and Palestinians.

By Nicholas Morgan*

The current flare-up began on May 8 over the planned eviction of Palestinian families from East Jerusalem, an area of the city

captured by Israel in 1967. Protestors gathered across the Old City, the part of Jerusalem that is home to sites sacred to Muslims, Christians, and Jews alike, where they were met with a heavy-handed police response. The clashes took on a powerful symbolic meaning when Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, wounding hundreds of Palestinian civilians and scores of Israeli police officers.

Turkey was among the first countries to issue a strongly worded condemnation of Israel. After the violence at Al-Aqsa, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan slammed Israel as a “terrorist state” and called on the international community to rally to the defence of the Palestinians.

“Jerusalem is the world itself, and the Muslims therein are humanity itself,” Erdoğan said in a post on social media.

“We regard every attack on places of worship, chiefly Al-Aqsa, and on Muslims, as attacks made on us,” he said. “It is the duty of every individual who calls themselves a human being, to oppose tyrants that defile Jerusalem, home to the sacred for three religions.”

The Turkish leader called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Ismail Hamiyeh to criticise Israel. An official invitation for Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz to attend Turkey an international diplomacy conference in June was also withdrawn. It would have been the first visit by an Israeli minister in a decade.

Erdoğan’s sharp response has called into question Turkey’s attempts to reconcile with Israel. For almost half a year now, Ankara has pursued an informal, and at times clandestine, outreach strategy towards Tel Aviv, carefully testing the waters for a rapprochement.

Turkish officials, including Erdoğan, have publicly indicated their interest in rebuilding relations with Israel. But rising tensions in Jerusalem have narrowed the chances of it happening.

Dr Gallia Lindenstrauss, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel-Aviv, said that harsh Turkish rhetoric against Israel over the Palestinian issue had become a permanent fixture over the last decade.

“Israel from its side was more hesitant and was not sure how sincere Turkey was in its overtures,” she said.

Lindenstrauss told Ahval News that past disagreements between Turkey and Israel were also figuring into the current crisis, casting further doubt on any normalisation.

“Some of the Israeli demands from Turkey for a normalisation closely relate to what is occurring now – Israel’s concern with regard to Turkey’s support to Hamas, and specifically its military wing, and Turkey’s growing influence among Palestinians with Israel citizenship,” she added.

Turkey’s support for Hamas, a Palestinian group recognised by Israel and the United States as a terrorist organisation, has encapsulated the distrust felt in Tel Aviv over any thaw with Ankara.

During Turkey’s past overtures, Israeli diplomats pondered how seriously to consider the outreach. One Israeli official rebuked Erdoğan in particular as untrustworthy and insisted on actions from Ankara to demonstrate its sincerity.

Fixing relations with Israel always promised to be uniquely difficult for Turkey compared to its Arab neighbours. Last week, Turkish officials visited Egypt to discuss normalisation. And on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu travelled to Saudi Arabia for the same purpose. Turkey has been at odds with both countries over its aggressive foreign policy and support for the Muslim Brotherhood. But cautious progress has been made.

In the case of Israel, however, Turkey’s relations remain dependent on the external factor of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For example, Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador in 2018, a move that followed violent clashes in the Gaza Strip over former U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. The relationship since has been conducted at the level of chargé d’affaires, leaving diplomatic ties in their current frozen state.

Domestic outcry in Turkey over Israeli attacks on Palestinians is also an impediment. While a recent poll by the Mitvim Institute found Israelis largely want better relations, the Turkish public widely opposes actions such as the raid on Al-Aqsa over the weekend.

On Monday, angry protestors defied the COVID-19 lockdown to flock outside Israel’s embassy in Ankara and its consulate in Istanbul, expressing anger at events in Jerusalem. In a rare act of unity, all of Turkey’s major political parties have signed a declaration condemning Israel. Meanwhile, mosques across Turkey have aired broadcasts supportive of the Palestinians, according to Voice of America.

There are still signs, however, that Turkey hopes to improve relations with Israel. Presidential adviser Mesut Caşin criticised the Israeli police response to Palestinians in the midst of the religious month of Ramadan as “unacceptable” but insisted normalisation would continue.

“So the radical groups do not want to normalise Turkey-Israel relations. However, Turkey-Israel economic relations are in good condition, why not do we change (sic) to normalise diplomatic relations,” Caşin said according to VoA.

The adviser previously touted Turkey and Israel’s defence relationship as an area that could be rebuilt. It was after all Israeli drones that formed the basis for Turkey’s own successful programme.

However, Lindenstrauss said recent events were a setback that demonstrated the long-term challenges in restoring Turkey-Israel relations.

“The current events not only delay such a normalisation further, but also highlight that even if a normalisation is at some point achieved, it will be fragile,” she said.

“One can speculate, for example, that had Turkey succeeded in its desire of bringing back Turkish ambassador to Tel Aviv this spring, he would have been withdrawn again in light of the violent clashes.”

*Nicholas Morgan is a freelance journalist and analyst, specializing in Russia and Turkey, and presently based in New York City.

Source: ahvalnews.com

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