The Israeli government has not positively responded to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s initiative to improve political relations between their countries, revealed political sources in Tel Aviv on Sunday.
“Turkey’s relations with Hamas challenges the improvement of political relations between both countries, even though economic relations between them are flourishing and security ties are good,” a high-ranking Israeli minister said.
Political relations between their governments are bad, he added on condition of anonymity.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Erdogan said: “We would like to bring our ties to a better point.”
However, he insisted that the Palestine policy remains a red line. “It is impossible for us to accept Israel’s Palestine policies. Their merciless acts there are unacceptable,” he stressed.
Officially, Israel has not responded to Erdogan’s statements.
However, the high-ranking minister said the situation with Turkey was completely unlike the four Arab countries that recently signed peace agreements with Israel, because of Turkey's support for Hamas.
The situation with Turkey is completely different from the four Arab countries that recently signed peace agreements with Israel, because of Ankara’s support for Hamas.
"The fact that Hamas' headquarters is located in Turkey is very problematic. It severely impedes everything," the minister said. As long as Turkey's approach to Hamas doesn't change, relations will not improve, he stressed.
In the past weeks, Azerbaijan has offered to mediate between Israel and Turkey with an aim to help improve diplomatic relations between them.
Last week, Turkey appointed Ufuk Ulutas, 40, as a new ambassador to Israel after a two-year absence.
Meanwhile, Pini Avivi, an Israeli who is keenly familiar with the Turkish president and is a former ambassador to Turkey between 2003-2007, told Israel Hayom on Sunday: "I wasn't surprised by Erdogan's desire for better relations with Israel, but by the fact that he said it out loud, which is incredibly significant."
Avivi continued: "In Erdogan's constellation of considerations, he is led by two central tenets – the first is 'neo-Ottomanism' and defending all Muslims. The second is to continue maintaining with Israel, to the greatest extent possible, not the past security relationship and joint military exercises of the past, but at least the whole matter of economic relations, which have grown in scope from $1 billion to $5.5 billion."
