Foreign Policy Blogs

Remember When Israel and Turkey Were Allies?

Israel has viewed Turkey as an ally since before it declared statehood. Turkey, along with Ethiopia and Iran (the latter of course being a much different story) made up Ben-Gurion’s Periphery Doctrine. Recognizing that in the short-term, Israel would not be able to work with its Arab neighbors, he looked to reach out to Israel’s “periphery” as a means of having allies in the region.

Of course, recently Israel and Turkey have parted ways dramatically. Since the election of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, relations between the two states have been strained, ultimately culminating in Israel’s boarding of the Gaza bound flotilla that resulted in the death of nine Turkish nationals. Since then, Turkish and Israeli relations have been virtually non-existent.

But this week, things may have gone from bad to worse from Israel’s point-of-view regarding their once-strategic ally in the region. First of all, Turkey announced that it will be launching GokTurk, its own satellite, as early as 2013. This satellite will be able to take pictures of Israel at higher resolution than those that are currently available. They have also made clear that they will have no problem taking, and selling, such pictures as they see fit. US legislation of the 1990s has long helped Israel guard its territory from prying eyes, limiting the level of resolution from all US made and controlled satellites. Israel also works with other nations to keep such higher resolution photos from surfacing. Israel views such photos as a national security threat. Yesterday PM Erdogan dismissed Israeli concerns over Turkey’s proposed-future abilities by saying:

We are sending our Gokturk satellite to space in 2013. Some people are disturbed by this. They say: ‘Turkey will watch us from space in the future’. You have been watching us for many years, decades.

And there is more troubling news out of Ankara this week regarding Israeli/Turkish relations. On Monday, Turkey came together with Iran, Iraq and Syria, none of whom have much interest in working with Israel, to announce that they are working towards offering joint-visas. This joint-visa will be called Shamgen, named by PM Erdogan after Sham, the Arabic name for Syria. The joint-visa, proposed with the aim of raising tourism and trade amongst the four neighbors, will allow anyone who holds it to travel freely within all four countries. There are still legislative hurdles to pass within the states’ respective governments, but the very idea should be shocking from an Israeli point of view.

Very few details about the nascent plan have been released, including proposed start dates or length of time the visa will allow its holders to travel freely within the four states, but this joint-visa raises several interesting questions. Currently, Turkey is the only one of the four to allow Israelis to enter their borders. More than that, anyone with as much as a single Israeli stamp in their passport is unable to enter Iran, Iraq or Syria. Does this mean that Turkey will have to issue a separate visa to foreign nationals with Israeli stamps in their passport, or does it mean that anyone who has been to Tel Aviv (or Ramallah!) will now be unable to enter Istanbul without a new passport?

(As a complete side note, it is worth noting here that are ways to get around this problem for people looking to travel the region with less impediment. Americans can be issued a secondary passport specifically for such purposes. And if requested, Israel will usually be willing to stamp a piece of paper than can be placed inside of a passport, rather than the passport itself. Equally important to note is that Syria will go out of their way to prevent anyone who has visited Israel from setting foot on their soil. They do not recognize secondary passports and even without a visa, they will seek out any evidence of travel to Israel, specifically exit visas from Jordanian border towns that lack the requisite Israeli entry visa.)

Further, it is currently very difficult for Americans to gain a visa to enter Iran. Not so of Turkey or Syria, and of course there are currently many ways for an American to enter Iraq. Does this mean that it will be easier for an American to enter Iran or more difficult to enter Turkey and Syria?

Of course, beyond the question of whether cheap Israeli vacations in Antalya are going to become more complicated, there are far larger implications of Turkey moving closer to Iran. Turkey throwing its hat in with two of the three “axes of evil” will certainly raise red flags across Israel and the Western world. Turkey, once viewed as the bridge between the East and the West, may well be officially declaring that it has chosen sides, much to American and Israeli chagrin.

 

Author

Josh Klemons

Josh Klemons has an MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution with a concentration in the Middle East from American University. He has lived, worked and studied in Israel and done extensive traveling throughout the region. He once played music with Hadag Nachash.

He now works as a digital storyteller/strategist with brands on finding, honing and telling their stories online. Follow him on twitter @jlemonsk and check him out at www.joshklemons.com.