Friday, March 18 2022 18:06

ArmInfo. The reason for Turkish President Recep Erdogan's recent overtures to Israel is, among other things, Anraka's seeking new approaches to the United States, Emma  Begijanyan of the Armenian Institute of International Affairs and  Security, said in an interview with ArmInfo.  

"In other words, Turkey is seeking access to the United States  through Israel. Many analysts account for President Erdogan's  overwhelming desire to improve his relations with Israel primarily by  his seeking Israel's mediation in purchasing F-16 from the USA. This  segment in the Turkish Armed Forces has remained undeveloped since  Washington's much-talked-of refusal to sell F-35 to Turkey," she  said. 

One more reason for Erdogan "kissing the hand he wishes to cut off"  is his seeking Israel's support in developing the gas fields in  Eastern Mediterranean - in other words, in a grave problem involving  Turkey's relations with Cyprus and Greece. This is the reason for  Recep Erdogan's statements on the prospective development of  Turkish-Israeli energy cooperation, which he made during Israeli  President Isaac Herzog's recent "historic," as he said, visit to  Turkey. 

However, Ms Begijanyan is pessimistic about Turkey's expectations,  especially in the context of the Israeli president's statement prior  to his visit to Ankara. Specifically, he emphasized that any  rapprochement between Israel and Turkey will by no means be to the  detriment of Israel's energy cooperation with Cyprus and Greece.  According to Ms Begijanyan, it reflects Tel-Aviv's general position  on the matter.  

The constant process of Israel's establishing contacts with Arab  states makes the rapprochement between Turkey and Israel even more  uncertain and problematic. Tel Aviv's good relations with a number of  Arab states allow one to speak of Turkey's declining importance for  Israel. This last fact means Ankara's agreeing to concessions to  Israel in the process of normalization of relations launched in 2020  with Azerbaijan's active support.  

"And the last fact reflecting Erdogan's unprecedented determination  to normalize relations with Israel: to please Israel, Turkey has  lately made steps against Iran. Specifically, neutralizing an Iranian  spy ring was a sort of prelude to President Isaac Herzog's visit to  Turkey. The 'spy ring' allegedly planned the assassination of a big  Israeli businessman in retaliation for the assassination of Mohsen  Fakhrizadeh, an Iranian nuclear physicist and scientist, by Israeli  intelligence services," Ms Begijanyan said.