The relationship between Israel and Turkey may be at its most strained in decades, but there’s reason to be optimistic, according to Turkish journalist and academic Kerim Balci.
Speaking before a group of U.C. Berkeley students Oct. 26 as part of a U.S. tour, the Istanbul-based editor-in-chief of the Turkish Review, a bimonthly journal, stressed the long history of friendly interactions between the two nations, emphasizing that Turkey was the first Muslim country to recognize the State of Israel in 1948.
“I lived in Israel for eight years, and I experienced personally how my Turkish passport would open doors in both Israel and Palestine,” Balci said during a two-hour talk on the history of Turkish-Israeli relations. He mentioned the importance of Israeli medical advances and universities (Balci himself holds a master’s degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and the history of friendly trade between the countries.
Balci reviewed a 60-year timeline of relations between Turkey and Israel, underscoring many years of positive interactions and mutual aid. In 2000, Turkey became the first Muslim country to sign a free-trade agreement with Israel. In 2007, Israeli President Shimon Peres said Turkey might play a vital role in helping Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate peace. Both groups trusted Turkey to serve as a neutral party, said Balci.
The journalist has become a go-to expert on Turkish-Israeli issues in past weeks, after Turkey’s Sept. 2 announcement that it had downgraded diplomatic relations with Israel to the “second secretary” level, effectively expelling senior diplomatic staff. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also told reporters that all military agreements with Israel had been suspended.
The announcement came on the heels of a United Nations report on Israel’s May 2010 interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla. Nine people died, including eight Turkish nationals and one American man of Turkish descent. The report, released the same day as the Turkish foreign minister’s announcement, deemed the Israeli operation “excessive” but legal.
Balci acknowledged that the diplomatic downgrade was tied to the incident and to Israel’s refusal to issue a formal apology, and noted the increasing tensions between the two nations. But he also insisted the future of the relationship was not entirely bleak.
Both sides should be interested in protecting current trade levels, said Balci. (In 2010, Israeli exports to Turkey were $1.3 billion, up 20 percent from 2009; imports from Turkey were $1.8 billion, a 30 percent increase from the previous year.) And Israel’s humanitarian aid efforts following the Oct. 23 earthquake in Turkey, he said, are evidence of the enduring, basic respect between the countries.
Balci also emphasized the need for a distinction between Turkish-Israeli relations and Turkish-Jewish relations. “Turkish Jews have full rights, they’re not on the margins of society. … Jews in Turkey are living the best they ever have right now.” About 23,000 Jews live in Turkey, the vast majority in Istanbul, according to the World Jewish Congress. Turkey is a secular country with 68 million mostly Muslim citizens.
But Balci said that ultimately, if relations are to be repaired, Israel must consider how its relationships with other nations affect the one it has with Turkey.
“Turkish-Israeli relations are not about Turkey or about Israel,” he said. “They’re about the third party — the Palestinians, Arabs, other countries in the region. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at the center. I think the future of Hamas-Israeli relations will determine the future of Turkey-Israeli relations.
“We need more cooperation, but there has always been respect,” he added. “I’m optimistic.”