Turkey severed diplomatic relations with Israel four years ago over violence against Palestinian citizens. But due to political and military reasons, both the countries announced the re-establishment of diplomatic relations.
According to analysts, economic and regional security issues have had the greatest impact on the development of bilateral relations between the two countries.
Next year is the 100th anniversary of modern Turkey. The presidential election will also be held at the same time. As a result, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is certainly keen to extend his almost two-decade rule.
But the global food crisis caused by the Ukraine-Russia war has also affected Turkey’s economy. Currently, the country has a record inflation of more than 70 percent. Erdoğan’s government is struggling to deal with such high inflation.
Besides, Turkey needs new investments for economic reconstruction. Currently, at least five million Jews visit Turkey every year. And Turkey exports at least four billion dollars worth of goods to Israel annually. Imports also average about $2 billion a year. And both countries have been trading in free trade agreement since 1997.
Regional security has also played an important role in restoring relations with Israel. Because there are security risks for Turkey in Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkey considers Israel as a strong player to deal with this risk.
On the other hand, Israel is also interested in restoring bilateral relations with Turkey for its own interests. Because Israel wants Turkey as an ally to deal with the threat of Iran.
In addition, Israel needs Turkey to supply gas to Europe through pipelines. Israel has about two to three trillion cubic meters of gas. From this they can earn up to 8 billion dollars by selling 10 billion cubic meters per year. In this case, Turkey will have to pay less profit.
And the United States and European allies are also interested in the construction of this new pipeline. This will reduce dependence on Russia. If Turkey has allied relations with Israel, there will be no other powerful country in the region except Iran to talk to it for political reasons.
Besides, Turkey is Israel’s largest arms buyer after India. As a result, Israel has given the most importance to reestablishing bilateral relations with Turkey.
Questions have arisen as to whether Turkey will play a silent role on the Palestinian issue if diplomatic relations are restored between the two countries. However, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu dismissed these fears. He said that Turkey will always work to protect the rights of the Palestinian people.
In 2018, Turkey withdrew its ambassador from Israel in response to the Israeli army’s attack on Palestinian protests along the Gaza border and then-US President Donald Trump’s visit to the US embassy in Jerusalem. In contrast, Israel also withdrew its ambassador from Turkey.
However, analysts are not surprised by Israel’s new decision. Because Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel. Erdoğan even visited Israel in 2005. Then the Sabra-Shatila Genocide villain joined hands with the infamous Ariel Sharon.
From September 16 to 18, 1982, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were killed in two refugee camps in Lebanon by the Israeli army. There were about 20,000 residents in those two refugee camps.
Former Zionist Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was Israel’s Acting Minister of War and Commander of the Zionist Forces in Lebanon and was responsible for the planning and execution of the Sabra and Shatila massacres.
As a result, Turkey is interested in re-establishing relations with Israel in order to maintain regional security and economic restructuring with the goal of winning the presidential election next year.
(19 August)