Ankara: An article by Turkey’s ambassador to Washington in Tel Aviv University’s Dayan Center for Strategic Studies journal Turkiscope has raised questions about the state of Turkey’s relations with Iran.
In addition to calling for cooperation between Turkey and Israel in the fields of security and energy, Hassan Murat Merkan said that without mentioning Iran, both states are threatened by similar regional malicious actors.
This article did not get the attention of the Iranian media. London-based TV station Iran International commented on the article, saying: “Ankara’s envoy in Washington called for Israel-Turkey cooperation to counter regional threats in a possible sign in Iran amid improving bilateral relations.”
The Ambassador also underlined the need for cooperation against terrorism.
“The Turkey-Israeli dialogue offers more than a traditional regional partnership in the face of malicious actors and tendencies. Traditional partnerships are for a particular issue, whether it is against a threat or for some purpose. Traditional partnerships have expiration dates. Turkey and Israel, on the other hand, share a common neighborhood, heritage and, at least, a common future,” he said in his article, “Turkey and Israel: Optimism Must Prevail.”
The ambassador continued: “Tackling malicious actors and their activities throughout our region is a special area for better coordination. The Turkey-Israeli partnership will be effective in preventing destabilizing moves in the wider Middle East and North Africa.
Israel and Turkey have always shared concerns over Iranian influence in Syria threatening the interests of Turkish proxies including Hezbollah and Shia militias.
Ambassador Mercan, close to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a founding member of the ruling Justice and Development Party, called for redesigning Turkey-Israeli relations toward mutual trust.
“Turkey and Israel’s geo-strategic interests determine a close and multi-layered partnership.” , (a) symmetrical security threats and challenges, (ii) making energy supply routes more secure and the need to diversify, and (iii) inter-cultural synergies against Islamophobia and anti-Semitism and hate crimes of all kinds promote.
This is not the first time Mercan has underscored Turkey’s concerns about an Iranian threat to the region’s security.
In a speech by Haaretz as chairman of the Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee in 2008, Merkan stated that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a threat to Turkey.
As part of bilateral steps to improve ties, Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Erdogan in Ankara last month. Erdogan recently said that Turkey and Israel can cooperate in transporting Israel’s natural gas to Europe.
“While Turkey-Iran relations have their ups and downs, these countries know how to keep the relationship in some form,” Gallia Lindenstrass, a senior research fellow at the National Institute for Security Studies in Israel, told Arab News.
“However, Turkey is disappointed by the growing competition between the two in northern Iraq as well as the ongoing competition in Syria,” she said.
Several acts of espionage by Iranian agents against Israel and Iranian dissidents on Turkish soil were recently uncovered and thwarted by Turkish intelligence agencies.
Since last year, Turkish security forces have increased their operations against Iranian spy networks in the country.
After detaining Iranian spies over a plot to kidnap a former Iranian soldier last October, other spies were also arrested in February before they carried out a plan to kill Turkish-Israeli businessman Yair Geller. . ,
On the energy front, Iran also blocked the flow of gas to Turkey for 10 days in January.
Lindenstrass said cases such as the revelations of Iranian spies and the temporary halt of gas supplies in the winter also add to the tension.
“Furthermore, one cannot ignore the fact that Turkey is drawing closer to the Arab Gulf states – mostly out of economic necessity – which makes it less tolerant of Iranian efforts to increase its regional influence,” he said. said.
Despite being part of Syria-focused Astana peace talks with Iran and Russia, Ankara shares a common perception with most of Iran’s Gulf states as a threat.
However, Sonar Cagapte, director of the Turkey Program at the Washington Institute, said Turkey has always separated its relations with Iran from its ties with Israel.
“Turkey has had competitive relations with Iran in this area. They see each other as two big ‘former imperialist’ but ‘current hegemonic’ powers that have a right to shape regional development,” he told Arab News.
“Throughout history, both countries have avoided direct conflict in Syria despite coming very close to conflict with Turkish troops on the one hand and Hezbollah and Iranian proxies coming close to fire on the other.”
According to Cagupte, the normalization of relations between Turkey and Israel will first include energy cooperation.
Amid sanctions on Ukraine over Russia, the US government has repeatedly suggested the establishment of alternative pipelines from Israel to Greece via Turkey, threatening serious shortages across Europe.
“At this stage, Turkey and Israel have similar objectives in Syria. They both have the authority to pass the agreement, which allows Israel to attack Hezbollah and Turkey to attack the Kurdistan Workers’ Party,” he said.
Meanwhile, Turkish state-run media channel TRT World recently published an article on whether Iran could gain the upper hand over Russia in Syria due to the fall of Ukraine.
“Tehran is trying to take advantage of the Ukraine crisis and strengthen its position in the Syrian region. Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Iran and the Syrian regime increased their strategic partnership by increasing military diplomacy, “At the same time, pro-Iranian fighters are working on relocating to different parts of Syria,” stated in the article.