Turkey
“The overtures to Israel and towards Armenia are an indirect way in Ankara’s perception to approach Washington,” said Gallia Lindenstrauss, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies. They’re also related to a struggling economy.
Erdoğan announces Israeli President Herzog slated to visit Turkey
“With this visit, a new era can begin in the Israeli and Turkish relationship,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
With Arab countries now making financial and other agreements with Israel, Turkey finds itself isolated in the region and losing export markets.
A new report by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs also finds that the headquarters laundered millions of dollars.
“The Turkish president’s attitude toward Israel has shown wild mood swings over the years, similar to the way in which he has swung between expressions of hate and benevolence toward the Jewish people,” says Aykan Erdemir, a former member of the Turkish parliament.
“The relationship between Greece, Cyprus and Israel now is so strong and so coordinated, it’s easy to forget that it hasn’t always been that way. And for a long time, the relationship was pretty contentious,” said Julie Fishman Rayman of the American Jewish Committee.
Fadi Abu Skhaydam reportedly met with senior Hamas operatives on Turkish soil and received instructions from them.
“It isn’t just Israel’s duty to act against Hamas terror; it’s the duty of the entire international community,” says Israel’s foreign minister.
Bennett thanks Erdoğan for help in releasing imprisoned Israeli couple
It was the first conversation between the two leaders and the first time an Israeli premier spoke with the Turkish president in nearly a decade.
Israeli couple jailed in Turkey on suspicion of espionage return to Israel
“Thank you to the prime minister and the foreign minister. Thank you to the president. Thank you to the people of Israel,” said Mordy and Natalie Oknin from their Modi’in home.
“We are full of hope and faith that authorities in Turkey will find [our] arguments compelling enough to accept,” says attorney Nir Yaslovitzh, on behalf of Natalie and Mordy Oknin, arrested on charges of espionage.
“At the end of the day, Israel does have the upper hand. It’s created for itself alternatives to its relationship with Turkey. So today, compared to 10 years ago, Israel is much less in need of Ankara than it was previously,” said Gallia Lindenstrauss, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies.
