ISRAELI-TURKISH RAPPROCHEMENT IN THE 1990s: WHY AN ALLIANCE?

Year 2020, Volume: 1 Issue: 2, 20 - 39, 17.09.2020

Levent Duman

Abstract

During the 1990s Turkey-Israeli relations developed very quickly. For many, improvement of Turkey’s relations with Israel is directly related to the military’s role in politics in Turkey. What led Turkey to establish such intense relations with Israel in 1990s? In order to answer this question first of all evolution of Turkish-Israeli relations in 1990s is examined. In following sections, three different explanations for this rapprochement are presented. In the first approach the internal political structure of Turkey, especially role of military in foreign policy making, in the second approach Turkey-US relations, and in the third approach the international relations and balance of power in the Middle East are analyzed and their effects on Turkey-Israel rapprochement are discussed. It is argued that, the Turkish-Israeli rapprochement in 1990s took place as a result of the balance of power and complicated relation links in the Middle East.

Keywords

Turkey-Israel relations, , military and politics, Turkish foreign policy

1990’LARDA İSRAİL-TÜRKİYE YAKINLAŞMASI: NEDEN BİR İTTİFAK?

Abstract

1990’larda Türkiye-İsrail ilişkileri hızla gelişmiştir. Çoğu kişiye göre, Türkiye’nin İsrail’le ilişkilerinin iyileşmesi doğrudan Türkiye’de ordunun siyasetteki rolü ile bağlantılıdır. Türkiye’yi 1990’larda İsrail ile böylesi yoğun ilişkiye girmeye yol açan etmenler nelerdir? Bu soruyu yanıtlamak amacıyla, öncelikle 1990’lardaki Türkiye-İsrail ilişkilerinin gelişimi incelenmiştir. Takip eden bölümlerde, söz konusu yakınlaşmayı açıklamak üzere üç farklı açıklama sunulmuştur. İlk yaklaşımda, Türkiye’nin iç siyasal yapısı, özellikle ordunun dış politika yapımındaki rolü, ikinci yaklaşımda Türkiye-ABD ilişkileri ve üçüncü yaklaşımda ise Ortadoğu’daki uluslararası ilişkiler ve güç dengesi analiz edilmiş, Türkiye-İsrail yakınlaşmasına etkileri tartışılmıştır. 1990’lardaki Türkiye-İsrail yakınlaşmasının Ortadoğu’daki güç dengesi ve karmaşık ilişkilerin neticesinde ortaya çıktığı ileri sürülmüştür.

Keywords

Türkiye-İsrail ilişkileri, ordu ve siyaset

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