Turkey-Israel Reconciliation: Command of Time

• 02.10.2016, 17:48
•  Region,  Near East,  World,  Analytics

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Turkish and Israeli delegations will meet today in Geneva within the negotiations on the settlement of bilateral relations. Israeli delegation is led by the special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Joseph Ciechanover. Turkish side will be represented by Turkey’s Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu.

Media wrote about the ongoing Turkish-Israeli talks last December. For possible reconciliation Turkey has three demands from Israel: an official apology, compensation for the families of those killed in Mavi Marmara incident and the lifting of Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Israel has already apologized in 2013 under the mediation of the US President Barack Obama. The other two issues are not solved yet, though according to some sources Israel is ready to pay $20 million as compensation.

All of the events preceding the meeting suggest that this "complicated agreement", after all, will be signed. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on February 9 hosted a leading delegation representing influential Jewish lobbying groups in the United States as a sign of Ankara’s willingness to normalize bilateral ties with Israel, Hurriyet reports.  Malcolm Hoenlein, the Israeli conference’s vice chairman, who is considered to be a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, arrived at the Ankara meeting directly from Jerusalem. Summing up the results of the meeting, Daily Sabah writes "it was seen as the latest sign of a possible thaw in ties with Israel".

There have been many such signs recently. In January Erdogan said Turkey and Israel needed each other in the region, Today’s Zaman reports. "Israel needs a country like Turkey in the region. We need to accept that we also need Israel. This is a reality of the region," Erdogan said. Later Israeli Prime Minister said the talks were continuing and the solution would be good for both sides.

Is it real? Do they really need each other in the region?

It is no secret that amid tensions between Turkey and Russia, Ankara is looking for new partners for energy resources. This is why it signed new agreements with Qatar and Iraqi Kurdistan. From this point of view Israel may also be useful for Turkey because recently gas fields have been found in the Mediterranean Sea of Israel. Thus, the energy cooperation at the moment is a mutually beneficial deal. Besides, Turkey appeared in regional isolation and needs to break it.

As for Israel, it needs to restrain the growing Iranian influence in the region. This is the issue that overshadows profitable energy deals.

These facts predict that Turkish-Israeli talks may succeed in near future. And it is dictated by the current situation like Turkey's recognition of the State of Israel in 1949.