As ties come out deep freeze, the ups and downs of Israel-Turkey relations
With Herzog making first high-level Israeli state visit to Ankara in over a decade, a look back at the rollercoaster of ties between the two nations in recent years
After more than a decade of tensions, Israel is taking steps to mend fences with Turkey, one of several majority-Muslim countries with which it has sought a recent rapprochement.
Israel was a long-time regional ally of Turkey, before a 2010 commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla left 10 Turkish activists dead. Israel says its soldiers were violently attacked by those on board.
Here are the key ups and downs, as President Isaac Herzog visits Turkey on Wednesday:
Strategic partnership
In 1996 Israel and Turkey sign a “strategic partnership,” under which their air forces can train in each other’s air space.
The accord, which is followed by several arms cooperation agreements, is strongly criticized by several Arab nations and Iran.
Relations sour
Relations take a downturn when Turkish then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walks out of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2009, in protest at Israel’s 2009 Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip.
Israel says the conflict was a response to hundreds of rockets launched by Hamas at Israeli population centers.
The 22-day operation cost the lives of 1,440 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
Mavi Marmara
A full-blown crisis erupts in May 2010, when 10 Turkish activists are killed in a violent confrontation with Israeli naval commandos aboard the Mavi Marmara ship that aimed to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Ankara recalls its ambassador and scales down economic and defense ties with Israel.
In March 2013, under pressure from US then-president Barack Obama, then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologizes to Turkey and announces compensation for the families of those killed. Erdogan accepts the apology.
In July 2014, however, he nonetheless keeps up the furious rhetoric, accusing Israel of “keeping Hitler’s spirit alive” over a major offensive in Gaza.
Making up
Israel and Turkey formalize the normalization process in June 2016 after six years of estrangement. The agreement provides Turkey with $20 million (nearly 18 million euros) in compensation.
In return, Turkey drops proceedings against Israel’s former army chiefs and the two countries approve new ambassadors to their respective countries.
Row over Jerusalem
In December 2017, Erdogan, by now president, leads Muslim opposition to US then-president Donald Trump’s plans to transfer the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and to recognize the disputed city as Israel’s capital.
On the day the new embassy is opened in Jerusalem, on May 14, 2018, Erdogan accuses Israel of “state terrorism” and “genocide” after dozens of Palestinians are killed in Gaza rioting.
Both countries recall their ambassadors.
Relations continue to sour, particularly after a controversial law passed by the Israeli Knesset in July that defines the country as the nation state of the Jewish people.
Arab Israelis — Palestinians who stayed on their land following the Jewish state’s creation in 1948, and their descendants — make up about 20 percent of the country’s roughly nine million people.
Gas diplomacy
In November 2021, Erdogan holds separate telephone talks with Herzog and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the first such discussions between the Turkish strongman and an Israeli leader since 2013.
Turkey releases two Israeli tourists held on charges of espionage.
Erdogan declares that Turkey is considering “gradual” reconciliation with Israel.
In January 2022 he announces that Turkey is ready to cooperate with Israel on a gas pipeline project in the eastern Mediterranean.
On Wednesday, Herzog is set to embark on a visit to Ankara.
The Times of Israel Community.