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TurkishPresidentRecepTayyipErdogan.(Photoby:
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Analysis: Turkey-Israel rapprochement not in the cards

despite reports
By ARIEL BEN
SOLOMON
08/12/2015
Despite bilateral meeting in June, ideological differences will prove insurmountable barrier to peace.
TherehavebeenrecentreportsoftalksbetweenIsraelandTurkeyaimedatnormalizing
relations,butasignificantimprovementintherelationshipisunlikelyaslongasPresidentRecep
TayyipErdogansIslamistAKPartyremainsinpower.

InaninterviewwiththeTurkishdailySabah,publishedonSunday,Israelschargdaffairesin
Turkey,AmiraOron,saidthatwiththecurrentpositiveattitude,Ithinkwewillbeableto
normalizeourrelations.

BothofourcountrieshavetoclosetheMaviMarmaracaseinaproperway,whichwillsuitthe
needsofbothsides.Onlythencanwemoveontothenormalizationprocess,Oronsaid.

Itwilltakesometimeforrapprochement,andafterthis,wewillbeabletoexploreinwhatfields
wecanimproveourrelationstheenergysector,sharinginformation,cooperationregardingthe
region,andsoon,sheadded.

AskedaboutapossibledecisionbyIsraeltobuildagaspipelinethroughTurkey,Oronresponded
thatbothcountriesshouldfirstresolvetheirpoliticalissuesandnormalizerelations.Onlythenit
[thepipeline]couldbeactualized.

Discussingwherethereconciliationeffortscurrentlystood,ForeignMinistryDirectorGeneral
DoreGoldtoldreporterslastmonth:Ithinkthereisaneffortbybothsidestoseewhetherwe
canmoveforward...toturnoveranewleafandseewhetherwecanimproveourrelations.

GoldheldanunannouncedmeetinginRomeinJunewithhisTurkishcounterpart,Feridun
Sinirlioglu,toexplorewaysofimprovingties,Israeliofficialssaid.

Israelsdiplomats,however,aregoingtohaveadifficulttimegettinganythingmorethansmall
gesturesandacontinuationofeconomicandtouristtiesfromtheTurks.

TheTurkishgovernmentsactivepromotionofIslamistforcesintheregionincludingHamas
willlikelyproveaninsurmountableideologicalbarriertoimprovingrelationswithIsrael.The
countrycontinuestoserveasahubforMuslimBrotherhoodmembersexpelledfromEgyptafter
presidentMohamedMorsisouster,aswellasfortheHamasorganization.HamaschiefKhaled
MashaalmetwithErdoganinTurkeylateonWednesdayandwasalsoduetoholdameeting
withPrimeMinisterAhmetDavtogluthesameevening.

InJanuary,DavutoglucomparedPrimeMinisterBenjaminNetanyahutotheIslamistterrorists
whokilled17peopleinParisinJanuary,sayingthatbothhadcommittedcrimesagainst
humanity.LastOctober,DefenseMinisterMosheYaalonpointedtowhathesaidwasaHamas
baseofoperationsinTurkey,accusingAnkaraofsponsoringterrorismandarguingthatthiswas
incompatiblewithitsmembershipinNATO.

Expertssolicitedforcommentgavedifferingopinionsontheextentofanypossible
rapprochement.

Prof.EfraimInbar,directoroftheBeginSadatCenterforStrategicStudiesatBarIlanUniversity,
toldTheJerusalemPostthathedoubtsanynormalizationwithrelationswithTurkeycanoccur.

Prof.MehmetSeyfettinErol,headoftheCenterforInternationalStrategyandSecurityStudies
(USGAM),basedinAnkara,wasmoreoptimistic,tellingthePostthatobstaclescouldbe
overcomeandanewrelationshipbuiltwithinthecontextoftheIrannucleardeal,theSyrianwar,
andterrorismintheregion.

TurkeyandIsraelcouldhelpbringregionalstabilityamidthechaos,hesaid.

Forthis,rebuildingtrustandtakingpositivestepsareveryimportant,Erolasserted,addingthat
thesecouldbeonissuesthatareimportanttotheTurkishandregionalpublics,suchasthe
Palestinianissue.Erolsaidheisoptimisticthatanewfuturecouldemerge.

GeorgePapadopoulos,aresearcherattheHudsonInstituteinWashington,toldthePostthathe
didnotseeaprecedentforbuildingpeacepipelinestoimproverelations,referringtoIsraels
effortstoexportnaturalgasreservestoEuropeviaapipeline,possiblytraversingTurkey.

Energydealsareusuallytheeffectofgoodneighborlyrelations,notthecause,hesaid,adding
thatconstructingthepipelinewithoutfirstensuringstablerelationswasariskthatneitherEurope
norIsraelcanafford.

IfTurkeyssecularminorityandWesternorientedoppositionwereabletoretakethecountry
fromtheirongripoftheIslamists,theanswermaybeyes,Papadopoulosargued.

Reuterscontributedtothisreport.

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