Efraim Inbar
Published: 2011
Total Pages: 22
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Turkey's foreign policy has significantly changed. Jerusalem is unlikely to accept Ankara as a mediator in its disputes with Syria and the Palestinians. In all probability, arms sales and strategic cooperation will no longer be possible, while diplomatic and economic relations will only marginally be affected. Turkey understands that its regional aspirations require a certain level of diplomatic relations with Israel, an important player in the Middle East. Jerusalem still wonders why Ankara prefers the dictators of Tehran, Damascus, Khartum and Gaza over the democracy of the Jewish state. But Israel has no interest in further deterioration, and so far it is reluctant to publicly declare that AKP-ruled Turkey hardly belongs to the Western camp. Turkey's major foreign policy orientation should be of great concern to the West. Western capitals are slow in gauging changes in the domestic and foreign politics of Turkey. Washington still plays with the idea that Ankara represents 'moderate Islam.' Yet, Turkey's preferences and policies are anything but moderate. Seeking good relations with Iran and Sudan, as well as with Hamas and Hizballah, puts Turkey squarely in a radical Islamist camp. Turkey is an important country whose foreign policy reorientation changes the balance of power in the Middle East in favor of the radical Islamist forces. It affects negatively the pro-Western orientation of the Central Asian republics. It considerably weakens the Western alliance, NATO in particular, and could also revive the historic Muslim threat to Europe from the East.