Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Turkey

The vote in the US House of Representative's Subcommittee on Foreign Affairs to label the massacres of Armenians by Turks from 1915-1918 as "genocide" was very close 23:22. As a result of the passing of this resolution, the Turkish Government recalled its Ambassador from Washington. Jews played a significant role in this vote, there were five Jews on the Subcommittee, all of them voted for the resolution, and Rep Howard Berman is the Chairman of the Subcommittee.

Clearly there have been balancing interests over the years that have prevented such a resolution being passed before now, even though it was lobbied for by Armenian Americans for many years. Most significant of these countervailing forces was the use of Israeli influence on Jewish members of Congress to prevent the passage of such a resolution. The Israeli interest was to maintain good relations with Turkey and one way to do this was to show Turkey how Israeli influence on Congress could be in its interest. However, now that the Turkish relationship with Israel has soured, mainly due to the Turkish Government becoming more pro-lslamic and improving its relationships with Damascus and Tehran, Israel was not inclined to use its influence to stop the current resolution from passing.

No doubt that move will be interpreted in Istanbul as a manifestation of Israel's decreased support for Turkey, but there is no doubt that it was Turkey that initiated this change. First, Turkey protested Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in the most negative light, calling Israel's Army "child killers." Then PM Erdogan walked out of a meeting with Pres. Peres in Davos last year, then Israel decided to stop indirect talks with Syria with because they were dissatisfied with Turkish mediation, and there was an anti-Semitic program series on Turkish National TV.

These moves by Turkey towards the Islamic camp might not be considered so serious if it were not for the recent arrest of some 60 Turkish Army officers by the Government for supposedly planning a coup back in 2003. In Turkey, the Army is considered the respository of the legacy of Kemal Attaturk, the founder of modern secular Turkey. By directly attacking the Army the Government has brought to the fore the secular-religious conflict within Turkey, that far exceeds is relationship with Israel. Yet, that relationship is now inevitably intertwined with the outcome of Turkey's future.

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