At the end of the week, Turkey’s Erdogan met with France’s Sarkozy to discuss France’s opposition to admitting Turkey as a full member of the EU. The discussion was said to be “frank and cordial”, but the meeting did not change the situation. Turkey also signed a peace agreement with Armenia, and Erdogan made a speech calling for more toleration and the return of well known Turks who have had to go into exile because of their views (except for those famous for liberal religious views). Turkey is working on improving relations with Islamic countries, especially Syria and Iran, and the EU, and is liberalizing its society in some respects to meet EU demands, still in hopes of becoming a full member of the EU. However, Turkey continues to take a hard line on Israel, preferring to alienate the west over dropping its objections to Israel defending itself against Hamas’ jihad from Gaza. While this may be in some respects due to Erdogan’s Islamic views, it may also be because this is the stand of the Arab League, which approval is likely of more importance to Turkey than Western approval, as much as Turkey wishes for western acceptance.
Turkey thinks of itself as the bridge between east and west, able to navigate in both worlds, and hopes to capitalize on that position. However, as long as the majority leadership and the majority of the population in Islamic countries despise the west except for business, like the idea of global Islamic rule and want to see Israel destroyed or reduced to a powerless enclave, this fence cannot be straddled without serious damage to the straddler. While the EU is hostile to Israel, especially Britain and the Scandinavian countries, with these hostile moves towards Israel, Turkey presents itself as the Islamic norm, and increases the suspicions of the EU. While the EU also condemns Israel regularly, it tastes different to the West when it’s the Muslim Turkey being hateful to Israel, than when it’s a western nation.
IBA announcement (translated from Hebrew)
Turkey’s decision not to allow the participation of IAF in the international maneuvers that were supposed to open tomorrow (Monday) in its territory, was given to Israel only a few days ago, IDF spokesman announced. The exercise was postponed after the United States made it clear to the Turks that it disagreed with their decision, and that if Israel did not attend the maneuver, the United States and other NATO countries would also be absent. Turkey participated in previous Air Force exercises (with Israel).
In another sign of continued tensions between Ankara and Jerusalem, the Turkish military canceled a planned joint exercise with the Israel Air Force scheduled for this week, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Defense officials told the Post that Turkey informed Israel of the cancellation of the Anatolian Eagle exercise last week, which was to also include US, Italian and NATO forces, saying this was because the planes that Israel was going to send likely bombed Hamas targets during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip earlier this year.
According to reports over the weekend in the Turkish press, Ankara decided last week to cancel international participation in the annual air force exercise, in which Israel has taken part in several times in the past. The reports claimed that the move was aimed specifically at preventing the Israel Air Force from participating, an idea confirmed by the IDF Spokesman’s Office on Saturday night.
“The exercise was postponed due to a Turkish decision to change the composition of the participants and not allow the Israel Air Force to participate, a decision we were informed of only several days ago,” read a statement from the IDF Spokesman’s Office.
On Thursday, the Turkish military issued a statement saying, “Anatolian Eagle Exercise will be executed as planned between October 12-23, [but] multinational participation is postponed.”
Israeli defense officials confirmed that the cancellation was connected to tension between Jerusalem and Ankara that was sparked by Operation Cast Lead.
“Ties between the countries are still tense,” explained one defense official. “The announcement about the cancellation was sudden and unexpected.”
Anatolian Eagle was first held in 2001, with Turkish, Israeli and American participation. The drill lasted almost two weeks and included Israeli F-16s, helicopters and refueling tankers. Israel last participated in the exercise in September 2008, but has not flown in Turkey since Operation Cast Lead, due to the increase in tensions.
Israel’s absence from the last Anatolian Eagle exercise in June drew headlines in Turkey. Israeli officials said at the time that the IAF would participate in the upcoming exercise scheduled for October.
