Turkey and Israel together against the threat of the breakdown of both states

PanARMENIAN.Net - The fact that the state of Israel keeps on denying this fact is not new. Moreover, this is done for the sake of Turkey, since Turkey is the only Islamic country Israel is partners with it is the only Muslim country which has very tight relationship with Israel. It should be mentioned that the government of Ariel Sharon and Ekhud Olmert fully supported Turkey's candidacy for integration into the European Union, and Erdoghan in answer to this, supported the election of the "Magen David Adom" as a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Turkey lays hopes on Jewish lobby in Europe as well, which has its role not in the USA only. However, Peres became the first head of the state of Israel, who made a speech in the Turkish parliament.

During the negotiations with President Abdullah Gul and Prime-Minister Recep Erdoghan Shimon Peres emphasized that he sees Turkey as an important country in the region, which is able to have a positive and a rather essential role in the process of stabilization of the situation in the Near-East. During the visit a framework agreement about establishing three Turkish industrial zones on the West bank of the River Jordan was signed. The realization of this Turkish initiative, which is considered a historical even here, will provide more than 6000 people with job opportunities, which will in its turn allow resolving many social economic problems of this region. Besides, Israel promised to consider the matter about opening its Embassy in the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and promised its support in the issue of the Armenian Genocide. "The past is something the historians should deal with, and no bill may change this. Only historians may study the past. To realize the real values of the future, it is necessary to study the past very carefully," quotes Peres the Anatolian information agency. Shimon Peres particularly emphasized that Israel has always supported and will continue supporting the Turkish proposal to Armenia about establishing a common committee of historians. He said that it would be more logical to estimate the events on the bases of historical studies rather than plant hatred between the two nations. It should be mentioned that Peres always repeats himself… He couldn't think of anything new than the issue of "historians".

But one of the most important facts of the alliance is that Turkey and the Jewish state have been tied by an agreement about military cooperation since 1996. Turkey occupies the fourth place among the ten countries of the region of the Near-East and the fifth - among the European countries with its armament expenses. At present the Secretariat of the Defense Industry of Turkey develops 176 projects, connected with provision of the armament of the country. The Turkish army in NATO is on the second standing with its number and strength. Annual amount of the armament sale in the Turkish market is from $3 to $5 milliard.

Experts believe that the Israeli companies become more dominant in the market. The military-political leadership of Israel, taking into account the strength and prospective of the Turkish market, qualifies the cooperation with Turkey as one of the most important aspects in the relations of the two countries.

The statement made in August 2004 by the director of the armament exporting agency proves the above mentioned fact. According to this statement "Turkey is a very important market for us, and that is not only from economical point of view but first of all from the point of view of the exceptional role that this country has in the region. Turkey has more extended borders with Syria than with Israel. Besides, Turkey unlike Israel, borders on Iraq and Iran. When the matter concerns defense, I would say that the character of our relationship with Turkey in this sphere is based on the concept of mutuality. I cannot say that we have had a total success on the Turkish market, but we have had certain achievements in several fields. We are interested in proposing Turkey tempting variants and thus continue our cooperation."

Over the last three years Turkey due to its active multi-vector foreign policy has noticeably fortified its positions in Muslim international organizations, and first of all in the Organization of Islamic Conference. In its relations with Syria Turkey has the break-through which was not even expected by the biggest optimists and the supporters of the Turkish-Israeli relations. These achievements of Ankara increase the significance of the role of Turkey in two-sided Turkish-Israeli partnership. If in mid 90's the establishment of this partnership was being carried out under the motto "joint efforts against common enemies", today Turkey is more confident in taking up the role of a mediator between Israel and the opposing Islamic countries, and Syria among them.