First of all, this bilateral crisis has shown once again that when societies are not well informed about the different approaches, disagreements or controversies between states, they tend to believe that symbolic gestures are themselves the problems and they don’t care to investigate the real reasons behind tension. For some time, Turkey, without overtly publicizing its reasons, has been asking Israel to modify its Palestinian and regional policies. As Israel is probably aware of these reasons, it reacts harshly.Nevertheless, the second lesson to be learned from this crisis is about how pointless it is to use the media to convey messages to another state and especially how it can backfire when one reinforces this message by symbolic gestures and discourteous words. It’s not as though Israel and Turkey lack normal mechanisms to communicate. Almost every institution or sector in Turkey is able to use the usual communication channels to reach their Israeli counterparts. It’s not easy to understand why Israel has chosen to engage in a fight and not discuss things by the usual means.
Another lesson that can be taken from this crisis is about the role of social sensitivities over foreign policy. It’s no secret that the Turkish public cares about Palestine and is especially worried about what’s going on in the Gaza Strip. Now it appears that Israel is worried that the Turks are concerned about the Palestinians. In this context, even television series have become tools to express social reactions. But two important things are missing in these relations: There is a lack of comprehension about the other’s sensitivities and no one takes into account diverging opinions within a society. Some of the television series that disturb Israel create controversy in Turkey, too, maybe from a different angle, but they do. Ankara’s Middle-East policy, the role of Islam, the relationship between the army and the government and the fight against terror are discussed thoroughly in Turkey, too. Similar issues are also debated in Israel, and there are also conflicting opinions within this country. So, it’s too simple and generally misleading to judge a country from a single event or a single person.
This crisis has demonstrated once again that no matter what kind of government we have in Turkey or in Israel, it is international circumstances that determine the general ambience of the relations, and these circumstances don’t allow these countries to become too estranged from each other. Maybe Turkey perceives some of Israel’s policies as damaging for its own Middle-East policy; maybe the same is also true for Israel. Maybe Israel is angry because it was expecting assistance and not criticism from Turkey. The point is, when a crisis erupts, the two sides step back quite rapidly and they don’t allow situations to escalate. The fact that Turkey has insisted on an apology and that Israel has finally submitted proves that the expectations from these relations are high.
This week’s crisis will help draw a new road map for the future of bilateral relations between Turkey and Israel. Maybe Turkey will take steps to avoid being perceived as an anti-Israel country; maybe Israel will prefer to discuss its problems in multilateral international arenas. In a time when the world is changing, when countries with historical antagonism are seeking ways to work together, the relations between Turkey and Israel can’t be pursued with an extremist mentality. These relations will inevitably change, for change is also inevitable inside these two countries.
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