By Elma Jelovac, JTW

Journal of Turkish Weekly conducted an interview with Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunisik, IR Department of METU, concerning the recent developments in the Middle East and its impacts on Turkish-Israeli relations. You can read the full text of the interview below.

Q: How do you evaluate the recent developments in the Middle East? Do you think it may affect the Turkish-Israeli relations?

A: Of course, this is a big transformation. It is going on in different parts of the Middle East, and it is expected to affect other countries as well. It is very hard to predict how the events will turn out at the end. However, I can predict that there can be differences from one country to another, because Egypt is different than Tunisia, and they are both very different than Libya. So it is hard to predict what will happen.

Even if we expect more democratic and accountable governments at the end, the whole process of democratization itself is very unstable, not only in the Middle East but everywhere. In a region like the Middle East, instability may create further instabilities because of the already existing fault lines and conflicts. Within that context, Israel’s situation became very precarious. Even peace treaty that Israel has enjoyed with Egypt since 1979 is now questionable. This has led Israel to feel less secure. For Iran, its relations with Hezbollah has become affected as well.

As to the impact of all of this on the Turkish-Israeli relations, I think it would be better for Turkey to have access to Israel, to be able to talk to Israel in such a shifting unstable and uncertain environment. Because Turkey’s policy is to have peace, stability and prosperity in the Middle East. If that happens, Turkey will benefit from its relations with the Middle East. In order to secure that, Turkey should be able to talk to all actors in the region. Talking to Israel is very important in trying to contribute the conflict management and helping the transition process in the region.

Q: What are your prospects for the next 10 years regarding bilateral relations between Turkey and Israel?

A: It depends on many actors, as I said. There is strategic interest to have more stable Middle East where Turkey should be able to talk to Israel. However, there are obstacles to this, especially the crisis over Mavi Marmara is blocking any kind of normalization of relations. First of all, this crisis has to be resolved. Together with this, Israel should realize that Middle East has changed and should adopt policies accordingly. There should be a real peace process with Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon as well. If these happen Turkish Israeli relations will also become normal.