Today's Zaman (Turquie) : "Israel, losing Turkey after Davos rumpus, reaches out to other Turkic countries" par Lamiya Adilgizi

Israel, losing Turkey after Davos rumpus, reaches out to other Turkic countries

The relations between Israel, one of two great powers in the Middle East (Turkey is considered another), and Turkic countries is regarded to be under considerable development.

Israeli President Shimon Peres has paid official visits first to Azerbaijan, predominantly Muslim and the only Turkic-speaking country in the South Caucasus, followed by Kazakhstan, another Muslim country in Central Asia. The adversely shaken relations between Israel and Turkey and the repercussions in the Arab Muslim world in the aftermath of Israel's Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip have led Israel to start “hunting” for a new partner as a response.

Having lost Turkey, its strategic partner in the region, Israel is seeking partners in other Turkic countries such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Reaching out sufficiently far to the regions of the South Caucasus and Central Asia, the main point of attention for the regionally dominant powers of Iran, Russia and Turkey, Israel needs to fill the strategic gap produced by its strained relations with Turkey. Israel wants to have links in both these geopolitically significant areas together with above-mentioned influential powers in this part of the Caspian Basin.

Why Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan? Regarding the recent historical and political background, we can easily see why Israel chose these Turkic countries for closer partnerships.

Marina Ottaway, director of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: “Israel has always had moderate interests in the countries in Central Asia, the countries beyond their immediate neighbors. … I think the recent spat with Turkey undoubtedly reinforced that interest.” Pondering on the issue of energy delivery to the Middle East from the above-mentioned regions, Ottaway doubts that Israel could get oil directly from these countries, as it would be nearly impossible to build the infrastructure needed for the transfer of oil. In the end,” she concluded, “it is unclear to me what this means concretely, though, particularly since there is no way for Israel to get oil directly from these countries.”

The geopolitical significance of these countries between East and West, the active role of these countries in regional energy projects delivering oil and gas to European markets and, most importantly, the value of these countries from the view of Turkey attempting to be the main power in the South Caucasus and Central Asian regions, particularly among the Turkic countries, has not escaped the attention of Israel.

Before coming to Azerbaijan, Peres, in his interview with Trend News, expressed his appreciation for Azerbaijan as a country possessing common goals with Israel. Calling Azerbaijan a friend of Israel, Peres talked of Israel's enthusiasm to cooperate with Azerbaijan. Commending Azerbaijan and referring to its wealth of natural resources and cultural richness, Peres said Azerbaijan was a safe country: “Azerbaijan for me is a distinctive and special country on which I can rely. It is a country where Jews, Muslims and Christians can live together without any hate or fanaticism.” Considering Azerbaijanis equal to the people of Israel, Peres said: “Azerbaijan is not a big nation. Israel and Azerbaijan face the same problem. Regardless of its size, how can a small nation become elevated? You may become prominent outside your territory through all that modern science and technology has to offer.”

The Israeli president, mentioning Israel's disadvantage in terms of natural resources such as gas and oil, offered Azerbaijan the benefit of its expertise as a payoff for Azerbaijan's hydrocarbon resources. Peres commented that Israel is ready to share its knowledge, technology and all resources available to it being within the interests of Azerbaijan. Thus, suggesting cooperation in these spheres, Israel is explicitly tending to dive into regional affairs, enhancing the reputation of Israel around the Caspian Basin and conveying Azerbaijani gas to Israel.

Heading to Kazakhstan on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea after his visit to Azerbaijan, Peres and the officials accompanying him on his visit again discussed the cooperation between Israel and Kazakhstan in the political, economic, trade and humanitarian spheres. The potential for economic and technological cooperation between these countries also became the focus of attention during the meetings between officials in Kazakhstan.

During a meeting with Azerbaijani political scientists, Arthur Lenk, the Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan, expressed Israel's opinion over this issue -- these relations, expected to develop at a good pace, are seen in terms of a rapprochement between Israel and the Muslim world.

Speaking to Sunday's Zaman, Güner Özkan, an expert on the Caucasus and Caspian Basin at the International Strategic Research Organization (ISRO), underlined the importance of Israel's cooperation with Muslim countries such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. “The population of these countries does not regard the Gaza crisis as harshly as other Muslim countries. They are much more neutral and fair minded about these issues.” Hinting at this statement, Özkan expressed the ease with which Israeli relations will advance with these Muslim countries.

Üstün Ergüder, director of the İstanbul Policy Center at Sabanci University, says it is only natural for Israel to seek friends in the Middle East, where it does not have any allies. Ergüder said, “We [Turkey] are also on the way to diversifying our foreign affairs.”

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