Turkey and Israel: A Sea Change in Relations

After years of deteriorating relations between Jerusalem and Ankara since the AKP came to power in Turkey, there suddenly appears to be a sea change, owing to the current tempest in Syria. With thousands of Syrian civilians fleeing to the Turkish border, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is no longer cooing over his fraternal relationship with Syria's Assad. Quite the contrary: Two weeks ago, Erdogan labeled the conduct of Syria's army "barbaric" (see: http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=224433&R=R3), and when Assad called Erdogan to congratulate him on the AKP's June national election victory, Assad received a tongue-lashing (see: http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=225002&R=R1).

How has the turmoil in Syria impacted upon Turkey's relationship with Israel? First, the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which had been expected to carry hundreds of protesters, suddenly abandoned the upcoming Gaza flotilla without good reason. Turkey is even acknowledging that the flotilla is unnecessary and could prove counterproductive:

"Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Turkish secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference was quoted in the Turkish media on Tuesday saying that 'a return of last year’s events may lead to problems that will be impossible to solve. There is no need for that.'

He said humanitarian aid was continuing to be brought in the Gaza Strip over land."

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=227274

More recently, it was reported that Turkey conveyed an Israeli warning to Assad not to initiate hostilities in order to halt the ongoing insurrection. As reported by The Jerusalem Post (http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=227058):

"Israel sent a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad in recent days, warning him that if he started a war with the Jewish state in order to divert attention from domestic problems, Israel will target him personally, Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, the personal warning was sent through Turkey following intelligence reports of unusual Syrian troop movements, including the moving of long-range ballistic missiles that could be used to target Israel."

Never a dull moment in the Middle East.