The Israeli, Turkish, and U.S. navies will participate in a joint exercise over the Meditaranean next week to practice strategies for ensuring safety at sea. The operation, launched annually for the last ten years, will involve eight ships, three search and rescue aircraft, and four helicopters. More importantly, though, the exercise is the first joint operation between Israel and Turkey since the eruption of multiple tifts between the two countries, thereby signalling a potential thaw in relations.
Tensions began following Operation Cast Lead in December and January, with Turkish officials chiding Israel for a potential genocide of the Gazans and for overall maltreatment of the Palestinians. Following a defense of Israeli policies by President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan launched into an impassioned criticism of Israel before storming off the stage. Following the incident, a high ranking IDF general said in an interview that Erdogan should “look in the mirror” on his genocide accusation, a clear reference to the so-called Armenian Genocide, a title for the incident that Turkish officials continuously reject.
Erdogan and Peres at the Davos World Economic Forum.
However, Erdogan recently expressed his desire to relaunch Israel-Syria peace talks hosted in his country. These negotiations also halted following the Gaza operation. The Turkish intent to renew its position as a mediator for negotiations between Israel and Syria, coupled with next week’s military exercise signals a desire from Turkish and Israeli officials to forget previous quibbles and move on. Both countries enjoy significant economic ties with one another and Turkey remains Israel’s closest ally in the region. The previous rift over the Gaza offensive and comments from Israeli officials are not significant enough to spoil the close relationship fostered between the two countries since the mid-90s.
Flag photo taken from here.
Erdogan and Peres photot taken from Ararat News and Publishing.
