US elections and the Abraham Accords may have played a role in bringing together the once-close allies.
By MOHAMMAD AL-KASIM/THE MEDIA LINE
FEBRUARY 10, 2021 02:22
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference following a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Turkey, December 14, 2020
(photo credit: PRESIDENTIAL PRESS OFFICE/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
News of rapprochement between Israel and Turkey is heating up after years of ebb and flow in their diplomatic ties. According to Turkish officials, the once-close allies are eager to kick-start their renewed relations soon.
Both countries expelled their ambassadors in May 2018 over the killing of dozens of Palestinians by Israeli forces along the Gaza border and following Washington’s decision to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem.
In December, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would like to have better ties with Israel but Israeli policy toward the Palestinians remained “unacceptable.”
Erdogan champions the Palestinian cause, and has a contentious relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Erdogan said then that Turkey had some issues with “people at the top level” in Israel, adding that Palestine still constitutes Turkey’s red line and that it was impossible for Ankara to accept Israel’s “merciless” policies regarding the Palestinian territories.
Turkey and Israel, once allies, have had a bitter falling out in recent years. Ankara repeatedly has condemned Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and its treatment of Palestinians.
Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, an expert on Turkey from the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS) and the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies (MDC) at Tel Aviv University, says it may be premature to say that things are going to happen soon.
Content retrieved from: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/turkey-and-israel-inch-closer-to-reconciliation-658438.