Conference Call: Turkey-Israel Imbroglio
The SETA Foundation at Washington D.C. and the New America Foundation Present
Conference Call: Turkey-Israel Imbroglio
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Speakers:
Alon Liel, Former Israeli Ambassador to Turkey, previously served as Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry
Bülent Aras, Professor of International Relations at Istanbul Technical University and the Foreign Policy Coordinator of the SETA Foundation in Ankara
Hosts:
Daniel Levy, Director of the Middle East Task Force at the New American Foundation
Ufuk Ulutas, Middle East Program Coordinator at the SETA Foundation-DC.
Event Summary:
The conference call addressed the current diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey. Specifically, the background, and the implications for the protagonists, the region, and the U.S. For this briefing, two of the most respected analysts and practitioners from Israel and Turkey—Alon Liel and Bülent Aras—offered analysis, perspectives, and taking questions. After an ongoing period of tension, the crisis in Israeli-Turkish relations has escalated dramatically in the last 48 hours, with Turkey’s Ambassador to Israel being publicly humiliated by Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, and Turkey threatening to recall its Ambassador. Despite differences, Turkey and Israel have maintained an important strategic relationship, Turkey is NATO’s only Muslim member, and it was the destination of President Obama’s first visit to the region.Can these relations be pulled back from the brink, and if not, what is the fallout likely to be?
