Turkish-Israeli Entente : the impact of Turkish-Israeli alignment on Turkish-Iranian relations

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the Turkish-Israeli relations, which reached an apex with the 1996 military agreement respectively for both countries. Whether this cooperation is an alliance will be discussed. In the press and in some certain academic circles it is argued that Turkish-Israeli alignment would harm Turkey’s relations with its other Middle Eastern neighbors and it would cause an isolation of Turkey in the region. While Turkish-Israeli alignment can be deemed as a effect of evolving Turkish foreign policy toward the Middle East in the post-Cold war era depending on its shifting threat perceptions, this alignment is far from being depicted as an alliance. Apart from targeting a third state, PKK (Partiye Karkaren Kürdistan) terrorism constituted the main motivation of the alignment. On the other hand, including from the Kurdish and Palestinian issues, Turkey and Israel lacked accord on many critical topics. In contemporary multipolar world order Turkey’s maintaining relations with its neighbors despite the fluctuations, traditional Turkish foreign policy which oppose polarization in the Middle East are significant factors that obstruct an alliance type relation between Turkey and Israel.