neo-Ottomanism

Commando raid may be final nail in the coffin of ties between Israel and Turkey | The Times

Analysis James Hider Ashdod
Last updated May 31 2010 12:53PM

The bloody Israeli commando raid on a Turkish ship bringing aid and pro-Palestinian activists to Gaza has not only left an estimated 19 people dead, but appeared to have driven the final nail into the coffin of the already strained ties between Israel and Turkey.

Israel and Turkey rank as two of the most important strategic allies the United States has in the region, and had long enjoyed a close relationship, especially on the military level.

But since the Gaza war 18 months ago, Turkey has increasingly turned its back on Israel, preferring to develop its influence in the Muslim countries that once were part of the Ottoman Empire.

The first sign that the relationship was under pressure came after the Gaza offensive in early 2009, when the moderate Islamic Turkish Prime Minister, Tayeb Recep Erdogan, walked out of an international conference rather than share a forum with Shimon Peres, the Israeli President.

A series of anti-Israeli Turkish television dramas, showing Israeli troops slaughtering Palestinian civilians, earned rebukes from Israel. But those rebukes backfired on Israel when the Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, summoned the Turkish ambassador to his office and then publicly humiliated him by pointing out, in Hebrew, to camera crews filming the event that he had deliberately seated the Turkish envoy on a low seat and not put a Turkish flag next to Israelis.

Turkey later refused to host large-scale joint military exercise with the United States if Israel participated, prompting Washington to cancel the manoeuvres.

There had a been a slight thaw in relations until today, when Israeli Navy Seals stormed a Turkish ship — part of an aid flotilla to Gaza — and killed a large number of Turks. Israel said that its commandoes were met with men armed with metal clubs and knives who even managed to wrest two pistols off the elite Israeli forces, triggering a bloodbath in the close quarters of the ships’ decks.

Immediately, an angry crowd in Istanbul attacked the Israeli consulate in Istanbul and caused some damage before police pushed them back. As countries across Europe summoned Israeli ambassadors to explain the overnight shootings, Turkey pulled its envoy out of Israel. The Jewish state issued travel warnings to its citizens not to travel to Turkey — traditionally a safe and popular holiday destination for Israelis in an otherwise hostile region.

Anti-Israeli crowds in Istanbul quickly swelled to around ten thousand, chanting “Damn Israel” after Ankara called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the raid. The Turkish Foreign Ministry warned that bilateral ties with Israel could suffer “irreparable consequences” after the shooting, which is deemed “unacceptable”.

Israeli analysts believe that the deterioration of ties with Turkey was beyond its control, however: they believe that Turkey, having been kept waiting too long by the European union for membership, is turning its interest and influence eastwards in what they call “neo-Ottomanism”, a policy that could reshape the power structure in the region and make Ankara — traditionally a bridge between east and west — a new force in the Middle East.

Israel’s international reputation has been in the doldrums since the Gaza war, especially since a UN inquiry accused both the Jewish state and the Palestinian group Hamas of war crimes. It has even fallen out recently with its main ally Washington over its reluctance to stop all Jewish settlement growth on war-conquered lands that would allow peace talks to resume.

After a chilly meeting this year with President Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was due to hold friendlier talks tomorrow in the White House. But Mr Netanyahu was said to be considering cancelling the meeting and returning home after the shooting on the Mediterranean.