- Israel–Turkey relations
Turkey-Israel relations date to
March 28 ,1949 , whenTurkey became the first Muslim country to formally recognize theState of Israel . [http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/documents/44edf1a5d337f.pdf] [ [http://www.smi.uib.no/pao/hawas.html Turkey and Israel ] ] Since then, Israel has been a major supplier of arms to Turkey. Military, strategic, and diplomatic cooperation between Turkey and Israel is accorded high priority by the governments of both countries, which share concerns with respect to the regional instabilities in the Middle East. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/281909.stm BBC News | Middle East | Analysis: Middle East's 'phantom alliance' ] ] [http://ankara.mfa.gov.il/mfm/web/main/document.asp?subjectid=18367&missionid=65&languageid=0&statusi] [http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/New_World_Order/PowerBloc_TurkeyIsrael]History
During the Turkic migrations
The history of the Jewish-Turkish relations dates back to the 5th century
Khazars who were an ethnic Turkic tribe whose leaders chose to embrace rabbinical Judaism. Their kingdom, Khazaria, became a safe haven for Jews all over the world. The Russians clearly tried to overrun this kingdom, and after several attempts, Prince Svyatoslav I of Kiev conquered the Khazar fortress ofSarkel in965 . It is believed that he conqueredItil two years later, after which he campaigned in the Balkans.During the Ottoman rule
A key moment in Judeo-Turkic relations occurred in 1492, when more than 150,000 Spanish Jews fled the
Spanish Inquisition , many to the Ottoman Empire. At that point in time,Constantinople 's population was a mere 70,000 due to the various sieges of the city during theCrusades and the so-calledBlack Death of the 14th century, so this historical event was also significant for its repopulation of the city. These Sephardic Jews settled in Constantinople as well asThessaloniki , which came to be known as "Mother Of Israel" due to its overwhelming Jewish majority.Republic of Turkey and the establishment of Israel
Turkey also served as a transit for European Jews fleeing Nazi persecution during the 1930s and 1940s, although it was implicated in the Struma disaster. [ [http://www.jewishmag.com/43mag/bengurion/bengurion.htm David Ben-Gurion ] ] [Mallet, Laurent-Olivier: La Turquie, les Turcs et les Juifs - Histoire, Représentations, Discours et Stratégies. Istanbul, Editions ISIS, 2008, 614p. [http://www.theisispress.org] ]
Current relations
trategic cooperation
Despite the cool relations since the accession of the Justice and Development Party in Turkey, [ [http://www.radikal.com.tr/haber.php?haberno=139576&tarih=07/01/2005 Radikal-çevrimiçi / Yorum / Ortadoğu'da denge arayışı ] ] the Israeli Foreign Ministry characterized its relations with Turkey as "perfect" in the beginning of 2006. However, in
February 2006 , a visit paid byKhaled Meshal , a leader of the newly electedHamas , changed this status. Israeli diplomats went so far as to compare this visit to a possible official visit ofAbdullah Öcalan (the imprisonedPKK leader) to Israel, but Turkish authorities immediately denounced this comparison as "irresponsible and erroneous". After Khaled Meshal paid an official visit to Turkey, Turkish-Israeli relations entered a "cooling down" process. Some have suggested that this was only a public relations stunt to show the Islamic world that Turkey was on their side because Turkey had been silent in major issues important to Arabs and the Islamic community like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Lebanon crisis. [ [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020902/vest20020823 Turkey, Israel and the US ] ] Israel has even advocated that Turkey make up a majority of peace keepers in Lebanon because it has said that it does not trust troops from other Islamic countries likeBangladesh andMalaysia . [ [http://www.turkishweekly.net/comments.php?id=2211 Turkish Weekly Comment - The New UN Force in Lebanon: Should Turkey Participate? ] ]Turkey deploys the Israeli-improved Sabra main-battle tank.
Talks regarding the sale of Israeli
Ofeq satellites andArrow missile air-defence systems to Turkey have taken place, pending United States approval. The systems would be a generational leap for the Turkish military and intelligence capabilities.cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1192380787827&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull|title=Israel may sell Arrow and Ofek to Turkey|author=Yaakov Katz|publisher=The Jerusalem Post |date=November 12 ,2007 |accessdate=2007-11-12]Diplomatic relations
Israel maintains two diplomatic missions in Turkey: Its embassy is located in the Turkish capital,
Ankara , and its Consulate General is located in Turkey's biggest city,Istanbul . [ [http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/mfa/about%20the%20ministry/diplomatic%20missions/Web%20Sites%20of%20Israeli%20Missions%20Abroad Web Sites of Israeli Missions Abroad ] ]
*The Israeli ambassador to Turkey isPinhas Avivi .:The Embassy compound is located in Mahatma Gandhi Street, 85 G.O.P, Ankara. Tel: +90-312-4463605, Fax: +90-312-4468071, E-mail: info@ankara.mfa.gov.il. The consular reception hours are from Monday to Friday, 10am to 1pm, and it has jurisdiction for Israeli consular affairs for all the Turkish territory. [ [http://ankara.mfa.gov.il/mfm/web/main/document.asp?SubjectID=1010&MissionID=65&LanguageID=0&StatusID=1&DocumentID=-1 The Israeli Government's Official Website, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ] ]
*The Israeli Consul General to Istanbul is
Mordehai Amihai . [http://istanbul.mfa.gov.il/mfm/web/main/document.asp?SubjectID=15851&MissionID=66&LanguageID=0&StatusID=0&DocumentID=-1]:The Consulate compound is located in Yapi Kredi Plaza, C Blok K. 7
Levent , Istanbul. Tel: +90 212 317 65 00, Fax: +90 212 317 65 55. The consular reception hours are from Monday to Friday, 10am to 1pm, and it has jurisdiction for Israeli consular affairs for the Marmara, Aegean,Eastern Thrace and western part of the Black Sea regions of Turkey. [ [http://istanbul.mfa.gov.il/mfm/web/main/document.asp?SubjectID=1010&MissionID=66&LanguageID=0&StatusID=0&DocumentID=-1 The Israeli Government's Official Website, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ] ]On a three-day visit to
Ankara in November 2007, Israeli PresidentShimon Peres met with Turkish PresidentAbdullah Gül , and addressed theGrand National Assembly of Turkey , the first time an Israeli President has addressed a Muslim country's parliament. Peres and Gul differed on what action was to be taken regarding Iran's nuclear program, Peres publicly saying that he didn't believe energy-rich Iran was interested in nuclear power. Gul said that he would work to free the abducted Israeli soldiersGilad Shalit ,Ehud Goldwasser , andEldad Regev . [cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1192380797463&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull|title=Peres, Gul at odds over Iran nuke threat|author=Yaakov Katz|publisher=The Jerusalem Post |date=November 13 ,2007 |accessdate=2007-11-12]Arab-Israeli conflict
A joint Israeli-Palestinian
industrial park is being developed under the Turkish aegis. Israeli PresidentShimon Peres and Palestinian Authority PresidentMahmoud Abbas addressed theGrand National Assembly of Turkey a day apart to discuss resolution of theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict and greaterArab-Israeli conflict weeks before the2007 Mideast peace conference atAnnapolis, Maryland . Peres said that "Turkey is an important player in the Middle East in relation to the United States,Syria and the Palestinians, as well as us." According to theJerusalem Post , a spokeswoman for the Syrian Foreign Ministry indicated to a Kuwaiti newspaper that "Turkey is used as a channel of communication" between Syria and Israel. [cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1206632366781&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull|title=Damascus confirms channel with Israel |publisher=The Jerusalem Post |date=March 30 ,2008 |accessdate=2008-03-30]Economic relations
The Israeli and Turkish navies have conducted joint exercises. There is a plan to build a massive pipeline from Turkey to supply water, electricity, gas and oil to Israel. [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1145961328841&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.] In 2000, Israel and Turkey signed a
free-trade agreement . [http://www.dtm.gov.tr/ab/ingilizce/sta/israil/israel.htm]ee also
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Foreign relations of Turkey
*Foreign relations of Israel
*History of the Jews in Turkey
*List of Turkish diplomats
*Ambassadors of Israel
*Jewish Museum of Turkey
*List of synagogues in Turkey References
External links
* [http://www.arkadas.org.il]
* [http://ankara.mfa.gov.il/mfm/web/main/missionhome.asp?LanguageID=0&Question2=&MissionID=65&MissionID= Embassy of Israel in Ankara, Turkey]
* [http://istanbul.mfa.gov.il/mfm/web/main/missionhome.asp?MissionID=66& Consulate General of Israel in Istanbul, Turkey]
* [http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/documents/44edf1a5d337f.pdf A timeline of Turkey-Israel relations by the Washington Institute of Near East Studies]
* [http://www.ceri-sciencespo.com/publica/cemoti/textes28/nachmani.pdf]
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=1sTEDA1EoIwC&dq=israel+greece+relations&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=iOrRpMGkIW&sig=ZoohaewV0AE6I2906OLG9NL6ogA#PPP13,M1]
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