Turkish-Israeli economic relations in the new normalisation environment

ABSTRACT

Normalization indicates that states have opened a new page in their bilateral relations, and while it does not cover some problematic areas in relations and does not offer a final solution, it serves to create a reasonable basis for dialogue. The concept of normalisation includes the capacity to transform not only the political but also the economic dimension of Turkish-Israeli relations. This article contends that before the normalisation process in the bilateral relationship, the economic and especially the commercial dimension of the relations remained at a certain level and maintained its strong position even during tense diplomatic and political periods. In this context, the article draws attention to the fact that the normalization of Israel-Turkey relations is an ongoing process and aims to indicate that despite the existence of some disagreements, the search for cooperation on specific issues of common interest may continue.

KEYWORDS:

• Turkey
• Israel
• relations
• normalisation
• economy
• trade

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Aviv, “Israel,” 89; and Sarıaslan, “Türkiye-İsrail”

2. Kırval, “The Impact,” 135.

3. Bengio and Özcan, “Old Grievances,” 57.

4. Abadi, “Israel and Turkey,” 110.

5. Aviv, “Turkish–Israeli Relations,” 696–7.

6. Ibid., 697–701.

7. Liel, Turkey, 27–101.

8. “Gaza: The Case for Middle East Peace”; and Bennhold, “Leaders.”

9. Efron, The Future, 16.

10. Reuters, May 15, 2018; and Haaretz, May 16, 2018.

11. Ibrar, “The revival.”

12. Karsh, “Why Israel’s Arabs.”

13. Times of Israel, November 18, 2021; and BBC, November 18, 2021.

14. Jerusalem Post, January 18, 2022; and Daily Sabah, January 20, 2022.

15. Soylu, “Israel and Turkey”; and Kirişci and Arbell, “President Herzog’s Visit.”

16. Times of Israel, June 23, 2022; and New York Times, August 17, 2022.

17. Reuters, September 20, 2022; and Jerusalem Post, November 12, 2022.

18. Daily Sabah, December 6, 2022; and Jerusalem Post, September 12, 2022.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fatma Sarıaslan

Fatma Sarıaslan is Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Istanbul, Turkey.