Why do Israel and Turkey fight with each other?

Kemal Okuyan

Communist Party of Turkey (TKP)

June 02, 2010

http://int.tkp.org.tr/, int@tkp.org.tr

Israel and Turkey had been maintaining a self-styled consistency for long. The state of Israel had opened a maneuvering space for itself by seizing the Palestinian and other Arab peoples’ right to live, while Arab sovereigns were largely condoning to these acts so as to reap the rents of acting as the intermediary of the U.S. and Israeli hegemony in the region. Turkey, in turn, had built all its policies on the calculations of the U.S; it developed good relations with Israel as long as the latter assumed a dominant role in these calculations; there have even been times when strategic partnership was mentioned.

As soon as the Soviet Union disintegrated and the U.S. along with other imperialist countries accelerated their attempts to re-organize this region, Israel decided that the only way to maintain its conventional position was to take initiative. As the U.S. began to realize the handicaps of a Middle Eastern policy based solely on Israel and Turkey, Israel started to realize that it was not possible to survive the new era through an “alliance” limited to collaborationist governments, which were discredited in Turkey and the Arab world, over and above, being on the rocks due to radical pursuits in their own countries. Israel perceived U.S.’s Iraq policy as an opportunity, and encouraged Washington’s aggression as the occasion arouse.

The connections of the Kurdish politicians in Iraq with Israel were a mere fact that cannot simply be attributed to the fantasies of conspiracy theorists.

In short, Israel recognized the U.S. policies centered on Iraq and Afghanistan both as a development that would increase the legitimacy of Zionism since it was based on a similar recklessness and as a channel for an economic and political opening. Besides, the Israeli capital, which succeeded in infiltrating more into the Caucasus after the demise of the USSR, had been getting a chance to settle down on a larger territory as the seatmate of the warrior U.S.

During the first phase of this period, Turkey acted upon the instinct of self-protection. Insomuch that, the more Israel encouraged the U.S. to attack Iraq, the more Turkey tried to discourage it. Despite its habit of chasing the tail of the U.S., its eagerness to be part of the developments in the region and its ever-obtrusive militarist tendencies, we shall not be unfair to the bourgeoisie of Turkey: its real crime in the Iraq war was the unique assistance it provided to the U.S. in this region and its actions based on a subservient spirit for decades. Although there were others who thought differently, the preference of Turkey’s sovereigns was not a military intervention.

That was not so because they had a sense of dignity or they were peaceful, but because of their keen self-interestedness, their fears, and the balances in the Kurdish problem.

Nevertheless, Iraq was occupied and Turkey, though a few years behind Israel, felt the urge to take initiative.

The internal dynamics, which carried the Justice and Development Party (AKP) to power, overlapped largely with this foreign policy requirement; the only task on the part of the government was to persuade the U.S. that it was capable of assuming a role.

However, the U.S. had its peculiar problems; it was having a headache in Iraq and Afghanistan, it became evident that there were significant caveats in all strategic choices, its European rivals as well as Russia and the People’s Republic of China had become skilled in preventing the U.S. to re-entrench its position even though they were not able to pose a viable threat to the U.S. hegemony.

In such an international picture and as economic troubles cropping up one after another and finally bursting into a crisis came on top of the tensions caused by the exaggerated missions pursued by Bush administration that altered the balance of power within the U.S., the foreign policy practice of the U.S. has become prone to hesitation.

Different meanings have been attributed to the Greater Middle Eastern project; ambivalence was obvious as regards Russia; no substantial strategy could be developed in view of the developments in Latin America.

It was during these times of uncertainty that the AKP government was able to manage to fit itself into the caveats of the U.S. foreign policy. After Obama came to power, neo-Ottomanism started to have a repercussion in Washington and became a project with further meanings.

Yet, it was not possible to fit the realities of the world and the region into a single template.

Therefore, two important U.S. allies, Israel and Turkey, started to struggle to orient the U.S. by means of different templates.

Today, what brings Israel and Turkey to the point of confrontation is the incorrigible Americanism of both countries. Both countries endeavor to push the other out from the focus of the U.S. policies. In this sense, this fight is one of the most dishonorable, the most disgusting fights of the history. But, AKP has a great advantage: Israel!

The Arab peoples do not have time to think about the calculations of Erdoğan or AKP; what has been happening in Palestine, in Gaza, is at a point which might well make people think, “damn with politics; these people need air, these people need to breathe.”

In this context, every opportunity should be utilized to force Israel to retreat. One should help the de-legitimization of the Zionists, even if this is thanks to the dirty tricks of the AKP.

But…

The fight for hegemony within the axis of Americanism will go on for some time; and no one should think that Erdoğan and his fellows have won a victory. It is highly possible that this fight will cause new and untold sufferings to the peoples of the region.

Hence, while we push for the retreat of Israel on the one hand, we should also prevent complete loss of influence of progressive completely vis-à-vis Arab-Palestinian reactionaries who have set their hopes on AKP in expectation that the latter will alter the U.S. policy of alliances. And above all, we should not allow AKP to expand its sphere of legitimacy in Turkey.

Just as it is utterly clear that we should not hesitate and we should not have any reserves while we clamp down on Israel’s barbarity that has become evident once more, it is that clear that we should increase the resistance against AKP who is seeking to transform this barbarity into an opportunity for a new wave of attacks on labor and for the Turkish reactionism to achieve a new momentum.