{"id":27908,"date":"2016-05-27T22:50:37","date_gmt":"2016-05-27T20:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/norkhosq.net\/?p=27908"},"modified":"2016-05-27T23:04:07","modified_gmt":"2016-05-27T21:04:07","slug":"turkeys-islamists-nationalists-both-silent-on-israeli-weapons-flow-to-azerbaijan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/?p=27908","title":{"rendered":"Turkey’s Islamists, nationalists both silent on Israeli weapons flow to Azerbaijan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev review the guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Jan. 15, 2015.\u00a0(photo by\u00a0ADEM ALTAN\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n

In early April, as renewed fighting between Azerbaijan\u00a0and Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh<\/a> region made headlines in Turkey, there was little talk of the crucial role of\u00a0Israeli weapons<\/a> in the clashes. Only the daily Hurriyet reported<\/a> on Azerbaijan’s use of the Israeli\u00a0Harop\u00a0armed drone<\/a>,\u00a0which generated Armenian protests<\/a>.<\/div>\n
\n

Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson\u00a0Omer Celik<\/a> summarized why the issue should be\u00a0important\u00a0to the press:\u00a0\u201cAzerbaijan\u2019s battle is our battle;\u00a0their martyrs are our martyrs.\u201d Indeed, Azerbaijan consistently scores\u00a0as Turkey’s\u00a0closest friend<\/a> in Turkish public opinion polls, while\u00a0Israel maintains its status as a serious threat in the same polls.<\/p>\n

Intriguingly, Israel is Azerbaijan\u2019s main arms supplier, a\u00a0situation that poses a puzzle: Why have Turks remained silent as Azerbaijan, their closest friend, and Israel, their greatest rival \u2014 if not necessarily enemy \u2014 have grown closer?\u00a0The silence of two sections of Turkish society is particularly noteworthy: One is Turkish ultra-nationalists, whose commitment to Azerbaijan is near-absolute;\u00a0the other is Islamists,\u00a0who miss no opportunity to bash Israel. Why are these two groups, whose protests are rarely if ever curtailed by the police in Turkey, ignoring\u00a0this development?<\/p>\n

The Israeli-Azeri cooperation has\u00a0expanded as Israeli-Turkish relations have soured since the 2010\u00a0Mavi Marmara<\/a> incident. Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center (RSC), an independent think tank in Yerevan, Armenia, told Al-Monitor,\u00a0\u201cIsrael has replaced Turkey as an essential military patron of Azerbaijan, as seen in the 2012 deal involving the Azerbaijani procurement of drones and anti-aircraft missile defense systems from the state-run Israel Aerospace Industries for $1.6 billion.\u201d Giragosian explained that the bilateral relations are not limited to the weapons trade. The countries‘\u00a0interests converge\u00a0in three main areas \u2014\u00a0\u201csecurity and military, including intelligence cooperation; energy and trade; and geopolitical strategy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

So why are Turkish Islamists and ultra-nationalists remaining silent as their rival Israel expands its presence in Azerbaijan? There are at least two intertwined explanations for this rational ignorance: the media\u2019s silence and political pragmatism.<\/p>\n

There is an undeclared media gag order in Turkey on publishing, and not just on anti-AKP stories considered unpleasant for the government. The Israeli-Azerbaijani relationship is diligently ignored in mainstream media. Hence, several leading figures of grass-roots Islamist and nationalist movements told Al-Monitor they are not aware of the extent of the strategic friendship between Turkey\u2019s best friend and its most outspoken rival in the region. It was particularly noteworthy that none of the ultra-nationalists and only one of the Islamists was willing to go on the record with their views on the subject.<\/p>\n

A middle-aged, self-described bozkurt (a nickname for a member of the Gray Wolves, the Turkish\u00a0ultra-nationalist group) who worked in organizing youth\u00a0told Al-Monitor,\u00a0\u201cOur youth are\u00a0happy to see Azerbaijan triumph. We all wish it was mostly Turkish-made weapons being used, but we are not there yet. In the meantime, we cannot fuss about the identity of the manufacturer.\u201d Turkey sells arms<\/a> to Azerbaijan as well.<\/p>\n

When reminded of the increasing presence of Israeli intelligence in Azerbaijan, as well as in the oil and gas trade, realpolitik came to the fore. Approaching the question in a frivolous manner, the Gray Wolf said, \u201cOur [Turkish] relations are much better with Israel now, so are the Azerbaijanis\u2019. Who is going to call the kettle black? Times have changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Times have changed indeed, as one of the last critical pieces\u00a0of news on the topic from the Turkish government dates back to a 2011\u00a0story on\u00a0Hurriyet<\/a>. Back then, Turkey had asked Azerbaijan to scale back its relationship with Israel. So the age-old saying\u00a0„If you can’t\u00a0beat ‚em, join ‚em“ has become the tacit motto of the Turkish government in the Israeli-Azeri strategic friendship. Behind closed doors, the Turkish-Israeli-Azeri bloc seems to be working fine on almost all fronts. For the ultra-nationalists, a potential\u00a0Azeri\u00a0victory over Armenia overrides their dislike of Israel.<\/p>\n

Turkish Islamist groups are more conflicted about the issue. Most of these groups cherish any negative news about Israel. Though\u00a0Israel\u00a0bashing in Turkey has softened noticeably\u00a0in the past year, one can still spot at least a couple of anti-Israeli opinion pieces daily with a good dose of anti-Semitism<\/a> in the conservative media outlets. So it is difficult to imagine these groups are\u00a0warming up to the idea of being friends with Israel.<\/p>\n

Indeed, a comparison of Kadir Has University<\/a>\u2019s Foreign Policy Perceptions research findings of 2015 and 2016, released May 18, reveals a significant indication of how the Turkish public justifies its silence and acceptance of\u00a0Israeli arms flooding Azeri markets. The percentage of those Turks surveyed who view Azerbaijan as a friend<\/a> has jumped from 37.2% in 2015 to\u00a059.3% in 2016.\u00a0There has been\u00a0a significant decrease in the percentage of those who see Israel as a threat: from 42.6% in 2015 to 26% in 2016.<\/p>\n

Turkey’s increased\u00a0anti-US and\u00a0anti-Russian reporting this year has led to a significant shift in Turkish perceptions of the United States and Russia. Survey respondents consider them the\u00a0top two major threats, at 44.1% and\u00a034.9%,\u00a0respectively.\u00a0Foreign policy perceptions are\u00a0known to be highly susceptible to fluctuations in news reporting, as these Turkish findings show. So a good portion of Turks have accepted Israel’s\u00a0apology for the Mavi Marmara flotilla and replaced Israel on the threat perception scale\u00a0with the United States\u00a0and Russia. Al-Monitor contacted\u00a0Osman Atalay of the\u00a0Humanitarian Relief Fund<\/a> in Turkey, which is known for its rallies against Israel,\u00a0but he declined comment.<\/p>\n

Some Islamists, however, are willing to speak up. One group is the independent Salafi ultra-conservative Islamic sect, which does\u00a0not associate with the established religious orders. Twelve individuals who self-identified as Salafists told Al-Monitor\u00a0it is\u00a0not worth protesting against Israel or Azerbaijan because both are infidels. One\u00a0shopkeeper from Adiyaman said,\u00a0\u201cWhat do you expect from the Shia? They are the infidels …\u00a0of course they will collaborate with the Jews.\u201d This was surprising to hear because most critics of the Azeri government brand the country as a supporter of the Sunni\u00a0Islamic State<\/a>. Yet again, the same confusing scenario is true for almost every other Muslim country.<\/p>\n

Kadir Akaras, chairman of\u00a0Ehli Beyt Scholars Association<\/a>, which\u00a0represents\u00a0Turkish Shiites,\u00a0was blunt in his criticism of Israel during a TV program<\/a> in April. He went on the record asking, \u201cWe approach [the disputed] Karabakh\u00a0as we approach Palestine\u00a0and view Armenia as we view Israel. Why wouldn’t\u00a0the Saudi-led coalition of Muslim countries\u00a0come to the assistance of Azerbaijan?\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the openly outspoken groups against Turkish-Israeli rapprochement has been the Kurdish Islamist Party\u00a0Hudapar.\u00a0Hudapar\u2019s spokesperson Sait Sahin<\/a> was straightforward in his position, saying,\u00a0\u201cTurkey’s\u00a0‚zero\u00a0problems with neighbors‘ policy collapsed completely. Turkey strained its relations with Russia and since then has been sending positive messages toward\u00a0Israel;\u00a0hence, we cannot expect Turkey to protest Azerbaijan\u2019s friendship with Israel,\u201d he told Al-Monitor.<\/p>\n

Overall, as Azeri-Israeli strategic cooperation deepens, we are once more reminded that radical groups in Turkish society are still taking their cues from the government and are in sync\u00a0with the state. Hence, it would be too soon to interpret the results of Kadir Has University’s research as a significant change in anti-Israel sentiment in Turkey. A more sober analysis would be that even the hatred for Israel can be controlled if it is in the interest of these groups.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.al-monitor.com<\/a><\/p>\n

—————————————————————<\/p>\n

\"\"Pinar Tremblay is a columnist for Al-Monitor’s Turkey Pulse and is a visiting scholar of political science at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She is a columnist for\u00a0Turkish news outlet T24. Her articles have appeared in\u00a0Time, New America, Hurriyet Daily News, Todays Zaman, Star and Salom.\u00a0On Twitter:\u00a0@pinartremblay<\/a><\/p>\n

Pinar Tremblay<\/strong><\/p>\n

Columnist<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev review the guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Jan. 15, 2015.\u00a0(photo by\u00a0ADEM ALTAN\/AFP\/Getty…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27908"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27910,"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27908\/revisions\/27910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}