Israel Matzav

Israel warming relations with another enemy of Turkey

Since Israel's relations with Turkey went to hell this past summer, with the Turks choosing Iran and Syria over their alliance with Israel and sending the terrorist-laden Mavi Marmara to attempt to run the Gaza blockade, Israel has been seeking new allies. The natural place to look is those countries with whom Israel did not have warm relations until now because of its alliance with Turkey. And so, over the past few months, Israel has greatly improved its relations with Greece. Now, Israel is courting another enemy of Turkey, which could have severe implications for the Turks in the 'international community.' Israel is warming relations with Armenia.

The report suggests that if Armenian-Israeli relations deepen, the powerful Jewish lobby in the United States could theoretically back the Armenian resolutions on genocide and undermine Turkey.

During and after World War I, the Ottoman Empire, whose seat of power became independent Turkey, uprooted Armenians from their homes, and conducted forced marches to the desert of what is today Syria. This became known as the Armenian Genocide. Some 1 to 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered between 1915 and 1923.

The Republic of Turkey, however, refuses to acknowledge that the Ottomans indeed performed genocide on the Armenians and attempts to block all recognition of the Armenian debacle.

In an article in The Washington Times under the headline “American Jewish community ends support of Turkish interests on [Capitol] Hill”, Eli Lake reminded readers that in 2008, leading Jewish organizations decided that they would no longer block the adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution in Congress. Lake believed that this was a response to the worsening Israeli-Turkish relations at the time, a circumstance that could very well repeat itself now.

With a Republican-controlled Congress and Israeli support, the chances of Congress recognizing the Armenian genocide are far more than they were until now. It's about time that the right thing happened.

Labels: Armenia, Armenian genocide, Israel, Turkey

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:37 AM