Reading Türkiye and Israel Relations through Azerbaijan
Chapter from the book: Tansü, Y. E. & Kara, F. (eds.) 2023. Selected Articles on Afro-Eurasian Studies.

Hüsamettin İnaç
Kütahya Dumlupınar University
Rashıd Sadıgov
Sakarya University

Synopsis

The rapprochement between Turkey and Israel peaked in the 1990s and bilateral relations have reached their highest level since the establishment of Israel. Especially the regional factors experienced during this period and the endless Middle East instability brought these two states close to each other, and bilateral allied relations maintained the military balance in the region. The coming to the fore of the military factor in bilateral relations was related to the higher war tension in the region in these years, and this regional tension brought the countries closer to each other. The Republic of Turkey realized that Israel was the most suitable state against the regional loneliness it experienced in the 1990s and the Greek-Syria-PKK triangle, and tried to resolve the policy of loneliness it had experienced in Israel since its establishment with Turkey. Bilateral relations followed a positive course in the 1990s, and especially between 1996 and 1999, military relations between the two countries experienced their peak period. These positive developments in bilateral relations were not the same in the 2000s, and the negative findings in relations after 2002 worsened the relations. Especially in these years, there were changes in power in both countries, and the new government established in Israel adopted a more radical attitude, casting a shadow over the future of relations, and as a result, unexpected political crises in relations became inevitable. Relations, which were strained after the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, entered an era of softening again with the normalization agreement signed in 2016, and today the point reached in bilateral relations has risen to the level of strategic partnership again. As a result of the mediation duties of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which is known for its friendly attitudes towards both governments, both Israel and Turkey have left their painful and problematic past years behind. These three friendly countries have managed to rise to the position of strategic and cooperative allied states in both the South Caucasus and the Middle East under today's conditions.

How to cite this book

İnaç, H. & Sadıgov, R. (2023). Reading Türkiye and Israel Relations through Azerbaijan. In: Tansü, Y. E. & Kara, F. (eds.), Selected Articles on Afro-Eurasian Studies. Özgür Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58830/ozgur.pub307.c1316

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Published

October 23, 2023

DOI