Will Turkey learn to live with the bitter truth in the Middle East?

A conference organized in Ankara by the International Strategic Research Organization (USAK) on Turkish-Israeli relations in view of regional developments started with a heated debate when the first speaker, Professor Raphael Israeli, attributed Turkey?s policies toward Israel to Turks? hatred of the Jewish people.

I won?t mention the reaction from the Turkish participants that came pouring in like rain. But every time the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is accused of being anti-Israel because of being anti-Semitic, we are reminded of this question: how come Turkey and Israel enjoyed good relations in the first years of the AKP?s rule?

The answer is simple: pragmatism ? the key word that explains a lot of the AKP?s early successes in both domestic and international politics, as it overweighed emotional ideology. I would not go as far as to suggest that Turkey?s then-prime minister, who is currently the president, is anti-Semitic, but it is a fact that neither he nor the AKP rulers of that time were ever extremely fond of Israelis. But that was a time when Turkey was enjoying a tremendously positive image in the world especially as a peace seeking country with the famous ?zero problem policy with neighbors.? Turkey was also trying to improve this image by taking mediation initiatives, and obviously a breakthrough on Israel-Syrian relations or the Palestinian issue would have greatly contributed to Turkey?s success story. So keeping good relations with Israel was necessary as the ultimate aim was to attain a lasting peace in the Middle East.

As was also suggested by the participants in the conference, Mavi Marmara incident, in which Turks were killed by Israeli soldiers in 2010, is not the reason but the outcome of the...