Out of the access zone: Turkey did not allow Israel to participate in NATO exercises
Relations between Ankara and West Jerusalem have once again escalated. Turkey has blocked Israel's participation in the NATO exercises scheduled to take place in September in Bulgaria. Since the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip, the Turkish authorities have repeatedly restricted the Israeli military's access to the alliance's programs. However, this time it's also about Syria. Ankara, which had a hand in the change of power in Damascus, fears that Tel Aviv is strengthening control over the border areas in the south of the SAR. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
The right of vet
"Turkey did not allow Israel to participate in the annual NATO exercises on resilience and emergency preparedness," Ynet reported, citing the Israeli Foreign Ministry. These maneuvers are dedicated to working out actions in emergency situations — natural disasters, man-made accidents and hybrid threats.
The decision was made after a meeting between Israeli diplomats, the NATO coordination group for exercises and the Bulgarian delegation to the alliance, which took place about two weeks ago.
The alliance does not have a mechanism that would force Ankara to change its position and allow West Jerusalem to participate in official NATO events — decisions within the North Atlantic bloc are made by consensus, the publication notes.
An Israeli official, who wished to remain anonymous, accused Turkey of using the veto as a political tool.
"Ankara's position undermines regional cooperation and NATO's ability to solve global problems. Instead of promoting unity and collective security, Turkey uses its veto power in this way and harms the strategic partnership," the source said.
In his opinion, blocking Israel's cooperation with NATO "does not contribute to stability and rather undermines the core values of the alliance."
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip in 2023, Turkey has consistently blocked cooperation between NATO and Israel, arguing that the alliance should not interact with West Jerusalem until the conflict is over. In the past, Ankara unsuccessfully tried to prevent Israel from obtaining observer status in NATO, but subsequently weakened opposition after a brief diplomatic reconciliation between the two countries.
However, after that, the Republic of Turkey again imposed a ban on any communication between the North Atlantic Bloc and Israel, including meetings and joint exercises. At the alliance's summit in Washington last July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that NATO "cannot continue its partnership with the Israeli government."
In response, Israel Katz, then Israeli Foreign Minister, called on NATO to exclude Turkey after Erdogan hinted at possible military actions by the Turkish armed forces against Israel.
Sticks in the wheel
West Jerusalem has the status of the main US ally outside of NATO. This gives him access to the alliance's scientific projects and privileges in the maintenance of military equipment. In addition, Israel participates in the Mediterranean Dialogue program, which unites the North Atlantic Bloc and the Mediterranean countries.
Ankara says the alliance should not work with Israel until the conflict in Gaza is resolved. Despite the fact that a ceasefire has been in effect there since January 19, Turkey demands that Israel lift restrictions on humanitarian aid and agree to a longer-term truce. This was reported by a source from the Qatari publication The Middle East Eye.
This time, according to Arab media, it may also be in Syria. Turkey, which itself had a hand in the change of power in Damascus, is nervous about Israel's increasing control over the border areas in the south of the country.
Ankara did not ignore the statements of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who promised to protect ethnic minorities in Syria, and then expanded the IDF's control zone in the neighboring country.
According to Haaretz, Israeli forces are now creating a 65 km-deep buffer zone along the Syrian-Israeli border.
Their task is to keep out groups loyal to Damascus and prevent the deployment of long—range weapons. In turn, the Israeli army is preparing to build new fortifications.
Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz recently stated that the IDF controls Hermon and the southern regions of Syria in order to protect the Golan Heights and the Galilee from threats from the Syrian authorities and their jihadist allies.
For Turkey, which supports the new Syrian government, such Israeli activity is like a bone in the throat. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan even said in an interview with the Financial Times that the Israeli invasion of Syria and the advance into the interior of the country is extremely dangerous. According to him, the strategy of weakening the neighbors is unacceptable.
Azerbaijan has recently been trying to reconcile Turkey and Israel, who have become almost enemies. According to sources in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Baku is worried that the conflict between its two allies could escalate into a direct clash in Syria.
What do the experts think
Alina Sbitneva, a researcher at the Department of the Middle and Post-Soviet East at the INION RAS, noted in an interview with Izvestia that relations between Turkey and Israel have never been simple. For a long time, the parties did not maintain political contacts in connection with the incident with the Mavi Marmara vessel.
— However, this incident is a drop in the ocean of bilateral contradictions. The Republic of Turkey positions itself as one of the centers of the Islamic world, which is why the Gaza Strip, like the entire Palestinian population, is considered by it as a priority zone of political influence, the political scientist believes.
The expert added that in this regard, official Ankara views Israel's actions extremely negatively.
— Erdogan called Israel a "terrorist state" some time ago, and Netanyahu compared it to Hitler. But at the same time, there was still room for a "thaw" in Turkish-Israeli cooperation. A couple of years ago, the parties tried to restore contacts, in particular diplomatic ones, and even actually achieved some progress in this process. However, the "idyll" did not last long — until October 2023," the Turkologist explained.
After that, there was another recall of diplomatic staff and a freeze on cooperation in various areas. At the same time, as the expert notes, economic relations, as is often the case, were in isolation from the political course. And Turkey's trade with Israel was completely stopped only last spring, although, according to Sbitneva, unofficial data on the transit of natural resources, in particular oil to Israel through Turkey, still appear in the world media.
— The current situation around Syria is adding fuel to the fire. Turkey has strongly condemned the military operation launched by the IDF there, although it has repeatedly conducted illegal, from the point of view of international law, cross—border campaigns in this territory," the analyst stressed.
According to the Turkologist, the problem is that both sides regarded the situation with the fall of the government of Bashar al-Assad as their own victory and a chance for the most decisive actions.
— Turkey really considers itself the beneficiary of the situation and is trying to gain a foothold in the new Syria by any means. And her plans, of course, did not include the promotion of Israel there," Sbitneva believes.
She added that the next round of barbs and demarches is probably just the beginning, and everything will depend, among other things, on Israel's progress and Turkey's response.
Andrey Ontikov, an orientalist, publicist, and author of the Eastern Gate Telegram channel, noted in a conversation with Izvestia that after the events in the Gaza Strip, Syria, and partly Lebanon, the situation is extremely unbalanced in relations between Israel and Turkey.
— Against this background, there is a search for a new balance between Turks and Israelis. As soon as the situation calms down in one form or another, the positions of the parties, the output data on Gas and Syria will be clear, and it will become clear who has what influence in this or that part of the territory," the political scientist is sure.
In his opinion, in the future there may be not only political stabilization, but also, probably, a significant resumption of trade and economic relations.
— While the confrontation is going on, while the situation is shaky, everyone will pull the blanket over themselves, squeeze the maximum number of points out of the current situation. I think this is natural," the expert believes.
Ontikov notes the similarity of this situation with the relations between Turkey and Russia.
"On the one hand, the countries are trading, they have many joint projects, both commercial, economic, and even infrastructural, but at the same time they are competitors and there are a number of points where they have a lot of contradictions," the analyst believes.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
