Tzedek-Tzedek

There was an apparently small detail during Erdogan's histrionic efforts to distract the world from the defeat to Turkey , delivered in the UN's Palmer Report. Erdogan has slipped in an approval for a NATO radar early warning station to be located in Turkey . This early warning station, as part of a NATO missile defence system, is aimed at countering an Iranian ballistic missile threat against Europe/NATO. By approving the station, Erdogan risks evoking the ire of Iran , a nation with which Erdogan has lately invested considerable resource in creating a warm relationship. So I am puzzled why Erdogan approved the new station, particularly in the context of his belligerent campaign against Israel …. Here's my theory – what do you think? Turkey is clearly heading towards a military confrontation with Israel . Turkey can either sail in, and start shooting. Or, Turkey can try to goad Israel into firing the first shot. (Such as Israel 's pre-emptive strike in t...

I’m currently in Ankara , Turkey . I’ve been travelling here regularly for business for around a decade. Ten years ago, I was warmly treated in Turkey , both by clients and by Joe-in-the-street – who were enthusiastic about showing their respect and affection for anyone from Israel . With the series of hostile acts over the past years by Turkey’s Prime Mini ster Recep Tayyip Erdoğan against Israel, culminating in this week’s expulsion of Israel’s ambassador and many diplomatic staff, and today’s news report that Israeli travelers were systematically harassed at Istanbul airport, a once fine relationship, has been irreparably   shredded. Although it feels a bit nutty to be still coming here, with the relations between the two countries at rock bottom, I’m actually a (very small) part of a four billion dollar Israel/Turkey commerce. Interestingly enough, and counter intuitional, this binational business is stronger than ever – according to Yediot Achronot, up a dramatic 26% u...

Israel Aerospace Industries "Heron" UAV, supplied to Turkey in happier days ----- There is   reportedly  a stand-off between Israel’s Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, and Foreign Minister, Avigdor Leiberman. The topic is whether Israel should renew defence sales to Turkey . Ehud Barak is reportedly arguing in favour, as it is part of his mandate to promote Israel ’s defence industries; whereas Avigdor Leiberman is objecting, due to the continuing “strained” relations between Turkey and Israel . Israel ’s defence industries are a commercial powerhouse, accounting for over $5 Billion in annual export sales. Israel ranks fourth in the world in the defence sector export business. The defence sector directly employs over 20,000 Israelis. Turkey was a booming market for Israel ’s defence sector – with key contracts going to Israeli companies to supply Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs), Tank Upgrades and Airframe Upgrades of Turkey’s aging F4 Phantom Jets. This business was estimat...

Now re-elected to office for his third consecutive term, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has led his country consistently away from a Western orientation, to a more Eastern orientation. Erdogan's foreign policy has been marketed under the catchy slogan "zero problems with neighbors". This sounds as controversial as motherhood and apple pie. However, when one looks around at the identities of Turkey 's neighbors, the problems inherent in this policy become clearer. Iran , Syria , Iraq , Lebanon , Armenia … Under Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkey has invested tremendous priority in building economic, cultural and political bonds, particularly with Iran and Syria , including fostering warmer relations with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza . This has come at the cost of Turkey 's hitherto strategic alliance with Israel – with spectacular blow-outs at Davros (the public spat between Erdogan and Israel 's 85 year old Preside...

  The speed and scope of rebellions across North Africa and the Middle East has been dizzying. Absolutely no-one seems to have predicted this current and dramatic tidal-wave of unrest and even regime change. Tunisia , Egypt , Bahrain , Libya , Yemen and now Syria … Commentators have been guessing where the axe will next fall. The Turkish newspaper Hürriyet Daily News has predicted that the Kurds of Turkey are ripe for revolt. “The Arab Spring may lead to a Kurdish Summer”, they have suggested. There are estimates between 14-20 million Kurds in Turkey – approximately 15-20% of the country’s population. There are also some 1 million Kurds in Syria , and 2 milion in Iran . The hostility of the Kurds to the Turkish Government is long standing. Revolts go back at least to 1925, and include a major rebellion by the separatist PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) which started in 1978, and overflowed into Kurdish northern Iraq . Over 40,000 Kurds are reported to have been killed in t...

Tzedek-Tzedek blog has been quiet for the past week, as I was blocked from accessing it during my visit last week to Turkey. Tzedek-Tzedek shows following message in Turkish: Bu siteye erişim mahkeme kararıyla engellenmiştir. Which means “ This site has been closed by Court Order. ” Although I think what I have to say on Tzedek-Tzedek is important, I must admit to being rather surprised that a court in Turkey had decided likewise. I tried another blog, Rafi Goldmeier’s Life In Israel, and found that his blog had also been closed down by court order. A little further digging revealed that ALL blogs hosted by “Blogspot” had been banned by a Turkish court. According to Huriyet Daily News , the case apparently revolves around a blogger who had allegedly infringed copyright belonging to Digiturk, a Turkish Satellite TV station.    “The ban, which entered into force Feb. 28 following a court decision, was issued based on a complaint by satellite television provider...

As I arrived at Istanbul Airport in Turkey this week, there was a loud crowd and a disturbance going on. On a previous visit I made to Turkey via this airport, there had been a large crowd of Erdogan supporters enthusiastically greeting his latest Israel hate-fest, with flag burning and viciousness. This time, I took my kippa off, and quietly videod the "happening". Question: Care to guess what the event is? Answer: A French footballer had made a transfer to a Turkish team. This was his popular welcoming to Turkey! 

As I checked into a local flight within Turkey today, the man at the Turkish Air check-in counter saw my Israeli passport and said: "I am half Iranian, and half Turkish. "And I hate Ahmadinejad. He is crazy and dangerous. Everyone in Iran is waiting for Israel to bomb him. As for Erdogan, he is also crazy and I hate him also. I hate the Iranian Government, and the Turkish Government. They support Hamas, and Hizbollah - terrorists. Erodogan will lose the next election, because he has gone too far, and the people of Turkey are not with him. They don't like it. Ahmadinejad is planning an earthquake in Tehran, because he knows that Israel will not be able to bomb the him afterwards. I have this from reliable sources." He picked up my passport and continued... "Well done to you for using your Israeli passport here. I have given you the best seat on the aircraft." And he had indeed!  

Initiated and funded by the Turkish organization IHH, a convoy or flotilla of nine ships is heading towards Israel ’s coast, in a bid to break Israel ’s blockade on Gaza . The first and only successful attempt to break the naval blockade on Gaza was in August 2008 by the “Free Gaza Movement” when 44 people from 17 countries sailed from Cyprus on two small boats. Since then, several reported attempts have been made, none of which succeeded. The organizers claim that the flotilla consists of nine vessels carrying 800 passengers, including international activists and journalists, and 10,000 tonnes of aid. They are due to arrive off Israel's coast on Friday. This will be the largest and most extravagant attempt yet, and is personally backed by Turkey ’s increasingly hostile (to Israel ) Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A counter-flotilla has been organized by Israeli activists, and on Saturday some 30 Israeli ships set sail "to counter the Turkish flotilla." ...

On March 4, 2010, a US congressional panel narrowly voted that the massacres of Armenian civilians between 1915-17 by Turks were indeed "genocide"; within minutes the Turkish government issued a statement critical of "this resolution which accuses the Turkish nation of a crime it has not committed" and withdrew their Ambassador in Washington, back to Ankara for consultations. It does seem unusual that, almost a century later, the US Government is still in the throes of deciding the nature of the events which are estimated to have taken the lives of between one to one-and-a-half million Armenians, during the period of the First World War. These civilians were allegedly systematically murdered in forced marches, concentration camps, mass burning, drowning and mass executions. It is also peculiar that the current Turkish Government should care so much – as these horrific events were carried out under the Ottoman Empire; therefore the Turkish Republic, which was...

Israel has very, very few strategic friends . In the United Nations, for example, just three countries reliably vote against anti-Israel motions: Israel , United States and (believe it or not) Micronesia . Against this background, Turkey became a strategic ally to Israel in the late 1990’s, resulting in a Free Trade Agreement in 2000 (Israel now exports an annual $1.5 billion in goods and services to Turkey, and imports more than $1 billion); large Turkish Ministry of Defence contracts for Israeli products, with joint military exercises; and Turkey’s key diplomatic role in Israel/Syrian negotiations By 2008, Turkey was the single most popular foreign destination for Israeli tourists, representing 13% of all departures and generating an estimated $300 million in annual revenues. About 70% of these travelers headed for the resorts around Antalya . This idyllic relationship seemed to also weather the change in Government in Turkey , in March 2003, from the secular DSP-MHP-ANAP...