The expectations of a severe Turkish response to events in Gaza have largely come true. The clearest manifestation of this now is Erdogan's repeated aggressive rhetoric toward Israel and Netanyahu. Yesterday (November 15), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Erdogan for the first time and accused him, inter alia, of not only supporting the “terrorist state Hamas,” but also of “having bombed Turkish villages within the borders of Turkey.” This followed direct criticism of Erdogan in a tweet by former Prime Minister of Israel Yair Lapid, and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen likewise criticized Erdogan sharply.
Yesterday, the same activists who organized the flotilla to Gaza in May 2010, publicly announced they are organizing another flotilla, and called on the Turkish public to help with donations.
Beyond the ongoing impact of the Marmara incident on the relations between the publics of the two countries, it took a broad effort of several years to reach a formula that was acceptable to both countries to resolve this crisis. Moreover, even after the issue had reached a political solution, a legal debate continued at the International Criminal Court (which ultimately did not agree to deliberate the issue). Furthermore, after the 2010 flotilla, there were attempts to launch additional flotillas towards Gaza, but they were blocked with a combination of countermeasures and political measures. Although Turkey itself is not a member of the International Criminal Court, Erdogan underscores in his statements the need for the international community not to be satisfied with words, but also to take steps against Israel, including on the legal level.
At the same time, along with ongoing developments, attention should be paid to where Israeli-Turkish cooperation is still possible. Thus, today, for the first time since the beginning of the war, cancer patients from Gaza arrived in Turkey via Egypt, following Egyptian-Turkish-Israeli cooperation on the issue. Although there are many difficulties in maintaining Israeli-Turkish cooperation at the present time, it is still better than leaving the arena completely open to Turkish conduct, which is deliberately anti-Israel and not only adopts the Hamas narrative but actively works to promote it. In this context, it must be remembered that Turkey's physical access to the Palestinians, despite the improvement in Turkish-Egyptian relations, is largely controlled by Israel, and this is a point of weakness for Ankara.
The expectations of a severe Turkish response to events in Gaza have largely come true. The clearest manifestation of this now is Erdogan's repeated aggressive rhetoric toward Israel and Netanyahu. Yesterday (November 15), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Erdogan for the first time and accused him, inter alia, of not only supporting the “terrorist state Hamas,” but also of “having bombed Turkish villages within the borders of Turkey.” This followed direct criticism of Erdogan in a tweet by former Prime Minister of Israel Yair Lapid, and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen likewise criticized Erdogan sharply.
Yesterday, the same activists who organized the flotilla to Gaza in May 2010, publicly announced they are organizing another flotilla, and called on the Turkish public to help with donations.
Beyond the ongoing impact of the Marmara incident on the relations between the publics of the two countries, it took a broad effort of several years to reach a formula that was acceptable to both countries to resolve this crisis. Moreover, even after the issue had reached a political solution, a legal debate continued at the International Criminal Court (which ultimately did not agree to deliberate the issue). Furthermore, after the 2010 flotilla, there were attempts to launch additional flotillas towards Gaza, but they were blocked with a combination of countermeasures and political measures. Although Turkey itself is not a member of the International Criminal Court, Erdogan underscores in his statements the need for the international community not to be satisfied with words, but also to take steps against Israel, including on the legal level.
At the same time, along with ongoing developments, attention should be paid to where Israeli-Turkish cooperation is still possible. Thus, today, for the first time since the beginning of the war, cancer patients from Gaza arrived in Turkey via Egypt, following Egyptian-Turkish-Israeli cooperation on the issue. Although there are many difficulties in maintaining Israeli-Turkish cooperation at the present time, it is still better than leaving the arena completely open to Turkish conduct, which is deliberately anti-Israel and not only adopts the Hamas narrative but actively works to promote it. In this context, it must be remembered that Turkey's physical access to the Palestinians, despite the improvement in Turkish-Egyptian relations, is largely controlled by Israel, and this is a point of weakness for Ankara.