Peres: Ties with Turkey cannot be victim of ‘momentary tensions’

Peres’ remarks came in an interview published on Monday, when Israeli Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer was in Turkey for the highest-level visit since relations between the two countries became strained after the Israeli military launched a deadly offensive in Gaza last December. The message by Peres, who was engaged in a heated exchange with Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at a World Economic Forum session in January, were published by www.defensenews.com, a Web site focusing on global defense affairs.

“We need to be very careful not to undermine a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship built up over many years. Turkey is a very important nation in our region and a respected member of NATO. We need patience and to read the map correctly and not fall victim to momentary tensions between our two countries,” Peres said, when asked whether Israel should be providing front-line military technology to Turkey when Ankara is seeking closer strategic ties with Syria and Iran. “I think it will be very hard for Turkey to jeopardize its world standing and discredit itself by becoming too actively aligned with the Iranian agenda,” Peres added.

Israel has extensive defense ties with Turkey, a NATO member and one of the few Muslim nations to have built an alliance with the Jewish nation. Relations between Israel and Turkey took a nosedive after Israel launched its Gaza operation, killing more than 1,300 Palestinians. Erdoğan severely criticized Israel, saying it should be barred from the United Nations.

Peres was also asked whether he believed that Erdoğan has been leading Turkey “from partnership with Israel, towards radical Islam.”

“Turkey is the only country in the world where a non-democratic institution, the Army, was in charge of preserving democracy. And they did it. Now the role of the Army has changed, and the question is whether Erdoğan will lead his Muslim population toward democracy or whether democratic forces will demand a more Islamist state. For a long time, Erdoğan himself wanted a good relationship with Israel. But what happened? I’m trying to see this in a broader perspective,” Peres replied.

“The Turkish leadership very much wanted to become a part of united Europe, and the Europeans dragged their feet, and there was a sense of disappointment that caused them to look for another domain where Turkey could play a role. Turkey also wanted to play a role between Syria and Israel, which was accepted by our former prime minister. And when you become a mediator, you leave your closeness to one side and go to the middle place between the two countries. So that, too, has had a certain effect. How far does Erdoğan want to go in his push in different directions? I don’t know,” he added.

Return to mediation with Syria

Ben-Eliezer, in Turkey to attend an economic forum, was expected to urge Turkey to return to mediating talks with Syria in exchange for a return to the cordial relations that existed before the Gaza operation when he met Turkish officials.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman denied on Sunday that Ben-Eliezer was to ask Turkey to resume mediation with Syria saying “after all their invective and nonsense ... they cannot be mediators,” but Ben-Eliezer insisted on Monday that Turkey can help “to put things back on track” between Israel and Syria and insisted that he was in Turkey representing the Israeli government. “Lieberman might have different thoughts, but I am here not on a personal visit but as representing the Israeli government and the prime minister,” Ben-Eliezer said in an interview with CNN Türk television.

Ben-Eliezer said Turkey cannot remain a bystander because instability in the Middle East does not serve Turkey’s interests either. But he said Turkey should be “impartial” when getting involved in efforts to resolve conflicts in the Middle East. “Turkey should be impartial in order to mediate between [conflicting] parties,” he was quoted as saying by CNN Türk. He also said he was in Turkey to clear the cloudy atmosphere in bilateral ties.

In Ankara, Turkish officials were prepared to tell Ben-Eliezer that Israel should take steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which has not changed much since the January offensive. “Israel has to make a choice between becoming a democratic Israel which includes Arab elements, or basically a Jewish Israel. Both can’t happen at the same time,” a senior Turkish official told Today’s Zaman.

Ben-Eliezer was due to meet with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu later in the day and is expected to have talks with President Abdullah Gül today. Prime Minister Erdoğan, who has directed the harshest criticism against Israel over the Gaza offensive, will not be meeting the Israeli minister as he will be in Libya for an official visit. Erdoğan departed for Libya yesterday afternoon.