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ABSTRACT
Turkish governments and their actions regarding both Israel and the Palestinians have appeared to tilt in favour of one or the other depending on Turkey’s security concerns (both political and economic) and a changing international environment nevertheless they have been consistent in two matters: 1) A preference for a two-state solution to the conflict between the two parties; and 2) Insistence that the old city of Jerusalem should not be under Israeli control. Since the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, Turkey has been perhaps the most outspoken advocate for the Palestinians, especially for those living in the Gaza Strip under the rule of Hamas, even more so than many Arab states, losing its earlier reputation as a mediator. It is a policy that plays well with Erdoğan’s base as since the 1970s many Turks have developed sympathy with the situation of the Palestinians and had an increasing interest in matters regarding Jerusalem. In recent years, given Turkey’s economic troubles it has shown some determination to repair relations with Israel, but the Israel-Hamas War of 2023 has damaged those ties politically once again.
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Notes
1. Ataöv, “The Palestine Question,” 15.
2. Ibid., 16, 20.
3. Bishku, “Interactions and Experiences,” 437.
4. Turkey, Turkish Consulate General in Jerusalem.
5. Bein, Kemalist Turkey and the Middle East, 1.
6. Ibid., 19.
7. Aktar and Özel, “Turkish Attitudes,” 132.
8. Bein, Kemalist Turkey and the Middle East, 3.
9. Ataöv, “The Palestine Question,” 21.
10. Aktar and Özel, “Turkish Attitudes,” 136–7.
11. Ibid., 143.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid., 146–7.
14. Mughisuddin, “Turkish-Arab Relations,” 125.
15. Nachmani, Israel, Turkey and Greece, 67.
16. Ülman, “İkinci Dünya Savaşından Sonra Türk Dış Politikası,” 250.
17. Aykan, “The Palestinian Question,” 93.
18. “Ben-Gurion to Eisenhower,” Eisenhower Library.
19. Bölükbaşı, “Behind the Turkish-Israeli Alliance,” 26.
20. Karpat, Turkey’s Foreign Policy, 125.
21. Ahmad, Turkish Experiment, 414; and Karpat, Turkey’s Foreign Policy, 129–30.
22. Çandar, “Turk in the Palestinian Resistance,” 68–69; and Ahmad, Turkish Experiment, 414.
23. Onulduran, “Turkiye’nin Arap Ülkelerine Karşı Dış Politikasında Son Gelişmeler,” 69.
24. Váli, Bridge across the Bosporus, 308.
25. Aykan, “Palestinian Question,” 96.
26. Kürkçüoğlu, “Recent Developments,” 96.
27. Aras, “Impact of the Palestinian-Israeli Peace Process,” 58.
28. Aykan, “Palestinian Question,” 99–100.
29. Aras, “Turkish Foreign Policy and Jerusalem,” 47.
30. Uzer, “Turkey’s Islamist Movement,” 24.
31. Aykan, “Palestinian Question,” 101.
32. Yavuz, “Turkey’s Relations with Israel,” 55–56.
33. Aras, Palestinian-Israeli Peace Process, 124.
34. Aykan, “Palestinian Question,” 101.
35. Ibid., 102–3.
36. United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine, “Twelfth Arab Summit Conference/Fez Declaration/UN Supervision of OPT-Letter from Morocco.”
37. Beit-Hallahmi, The Israeli Connection, 17.
38. Yavuz, “Turkey’s Relations with Israel,” 49.
39. Aras, “Turkish Foreign Policy and Jerusalem,” 49.
40. Uzer, “Turkey’s Islamist Movement,” 30.
41. Jerusalem Post, 1988.
42. Yavuz and Khan, “Turkish Foreign Policy toward the Arab-Israeli Conflict,” 81. Turkey had done the same in 1987 by abstaining according to Gruen, “Turkey between the Middle East,” 413.
43. Robins, Turkey and the Middle East, 80.
44. Aykan, “Palestinian Question,” 103–4.
45. Aras, “Impact of the Palestinian-Israeli Peace Process,” 63–64.
46. Bölükbaşı, “Behind the Turkish-Israeli Alliance,” 31.
47. Ibid.
48. Yavuz, “Turkish-Israeli Relations through the Lens,” 28.
49. Gruen, “Turkey and the Middle East,” 179.
50. Altunışık, “Turkish-Israeli Rapprochement,” 189, note 1; Bengio, Turkish-Israeli Relationship, 144–55; and Inbar, “Regional Implications,” 48–65.
51. Shankland, Islam and Society, 210–4, appendix 4.
52. Uzer, “Turkey’s Islamic Movement,” 30–31.
53. Aras, “Turkish Foreign Policy and Jerusalem,” 52.
54. Turkish Daily News, 2002.
55. Bishku, “Are Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu,” 67.
56. See Aras, Turkey’s State Crisis.
57. Inbar, “The Resilience of Israeli-Turkish Relations,” 605.
58. Tür, “Turkey and Israel in the 2000s,” 62.
59. Berman, “Turkey Targets Israel.”
60. Uzer, “Turkish Islamic Movement,” 36.
61. Ertosun, “Turkey and the Palestinian Question,” 207 citing Muhammad Nureddin, “Kudüs ve Filistin’in Turkiye’nin Vicdanındaki Yeri Ayrı,” April 5, 2010.
62. Peuch, Citation2004.
63. Myre, Citation2005.
64. Köprülü, “Turkey’s Identity and Foreign Policy,” 98.
65. The latter is suggested by Çağaptay, The New Sultan, 158, while Ertosun, “Turkey and the Palestinian Question, 210 contends the former.”
66. Ertosun, “Turkey and the Palestinian Question,” 209–10.
67. Karmon and Barak, “Erdogan’s Turkey and the Palestinian Issue,” 76. Hamas won 74 seats in the 132-seat Palestinian parliament.
68. Lindenstrauss and Kıvam, “Turkish-Hamas Relations,” 8, 10.
69. Ertosun, “Turkey and the Palestinian Question,” 214.
70. Tür, “Turkey and Israel in the 2000s,” 56.
71. Lindenstrauss and Kıvam, “Turkish-Hamas Relations,” 12.
72. Efron, The Future of Israeli-Turkish Relations, 14, 26; and Gumrukcu, Turkey “Gave Hamas Members Passports.”
73. Bob, Citation2017.
74. Karmon and Barak, “Erdogan’s Turkey and the Palestinian Issue,” 79.
75. Kireçci, “Turkey’s Leadership in the Jerusalem Crisis,” 70–1.
76. Bishku, “Are Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu,” 58.
77. Kubovich, “Jordan, Saudi and Palestinians Warn Israel.”
78. Cohen, “Turkish President Erdogan Fans Flames of Jerusalem.”
79. “Erdogan Calls Herzog,” 2022.
80. Harkov, Citation2021.
81. Obel, “Erdogan Welcomes Abbas to Turkey”; and “Turkey Welcomes Abbas,” 2022.
82. Yavuz, “Turkey’s Relations with Israel,” 42–43.
83. Martin, “Turkey’s National Security in the Middle East,” 84.
84. Yavuz, “Turkey’s Relations with Israel,” 51.
85. Martin, “Turkey’s National Security,” 84–5.
86. Gözen, “Turgut Özal and Turkish Foreign Policy,” 78.
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Michael B. Bishku
Michael B. Bishku is a professor emeritus of history at Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia, US.