First, it was a dispute on the Gaza War between Israeli President Shimon Peres and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Then, an IDF General rebuked Turkish criticisms of Israel by conjuring images of the Armenian genocide.
Now, the Turkish military ousted the IDF from a joint military exercise.
But wait, its still going.
A new Turkish television program, Ayrilik, is about a romance during the recent Gaza War and depicts Israeli soldiers as boorish murderers, drawing sharp criticisms from Israeli officials, particularly from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. In response to the program, Lieberman said:
“Such a drama series, which doesn’t even have the slightest link
to reality and which presents Israeli soldiers as murderers of
innocent children, isn’t worthy of being broadcast even by enemy
states and certainly not in a state which has full diplomatic
relations with Israel.”
Some analysts are describing the recent military tension as a “strategic blow” to Israel, claiming that support from virtually no other countries could fulfill the same role of Turkey as a regional ally. Ron Ben-Yishai writes:
“Israel has indeed embarked on a process of seeking substitutes to the strategic advantages offered by the relationship with Turkey. However, this process is difficult and complex, and it is doubtful whether it will compensate us for the lost ties with Ankara.”
Similarly, in response to Israel’s removal from the military exercise, Erdogan defended the move, citing domestic tension from Turkish citizens regarding Turkish cooperation with Israel. Erdogan said:
“There is military cooperation between Turkey and Israel… but currently there are diplomatic sensitivities that we have to take into consideration.”
Regardless of the disputes, Israeli military technology companies claim that sales to Turkey are slowly slipping, making Italy the largest supplier of military equipment to Turkey. The decline in sales represents the changing relationship between Israel and Turkey, partially due to a recent shift in Turkish policies towards Islam. One military source told Ynet:
“If additional proof of the change occurring in Turkey were needed, this is one of them.”
Meanwhile, recent reports indicate that Israeli exports to Turkey dropped 40-percent during the first three-quarters of this year, a significantly larger percentage than the average 22-percent drop. Similarly, the debt from Turkish companies to Israeli firms skyrocketed 90-percent during the same time frame.
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