"Turkey's Cooling Ties with U.S., Israel
Interviewee:
Steven A. Cook, Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies
Interviewer:
Bernard Gwertzman, Consulting Editor, CFR.org
July 13, 2010
Turkey's relationships with longtime ally the United States and former strategic partner Israel have cooled markedly. The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is particularly incensed about Israel's raid on a Turkish boat trying to break the blockade of Gaza. Last week, Turkey threatened to cut off ties to Israel (WashPost) if Israel didn't apologize for the raid. In part, this 'is the natural evolution of Turkish foreign policy' given the end of the Cold War, Turkey's perception that it no longer needs to rely on Washington for protection against Russia, and an emerging sense of its own economic power, says CFR Middle East expert Steven A. Cook. As for Israel, Cook says, 'the real turning point in the relationship came with Israel's incursion into Gaza' in 2008, which angered Erdogan, who sympathizes with Hamas and felt betrayed by the Israelis, who didn't warn him the attack was coming. Cook adds that many Turks fear that Erdogan is trying to emulate Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in cracking down on critics."
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