Israel Matzav

Wikileaks: Israel warned in 2009 that Turkey was helping Iran circumvent sanctions

A cable leaked by Wikileaks reported that Israel warned the United States in November 2009 that Turkey was helping Iran to circumvent sanctions.

Israel believes Turkey is actively helping Iran sidestep economic sanctions and is also turning a blind eye to Iranian weapons smuggling into Syria, according to leaked US diplomatic cables published on Friday.

Citing documents obtained by WikiLeaks, the Haaretz newspaper said senior Israeli officials had told the United States that Turkey was moving ever-closer to Iran because it needed Iranian energy supplies and because it was revising its global strategy.

Israel used to enjoy excellent relations with Turkey, NATO’s only Muslim member, but these have grown fraught in recent years, with the Jewish state deeply concerned by Ankara’s warm ties with its arch-foe Iran. “[Israeli secret services] said [the] Turkish government is now assisting Iran in by-passing international financial sanctions and is ignoring Iranian weapons smuggling to Syria ... through Turkey,” stated a US cable dated November 2009.

...

Israeli officials said Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, sympathized with the Islamist group Hamas, which governs Gaza and refuses to recognize Israel. “The (Israeli spy agency) Mossad thinks the AKP [AK Party] sees historical similarities between Hamas and the early days of their party’s struggle against Turkey’s secular establishment,” the US cable said. “The AKP thinks it can help Hamas become more moderate and mainstream, as the AKP has done,” it added, quoting a senior Israeli army official, Colonel Shimon Arad.

Arad also told US diplomats that Turkey did not actively support the smuggling of Iranian weapons via Syria to the Shiite group Hezbollah in Lebanon, but added that Ankara intervened only under specific international pressure. “He suggested that the Turks might be more responsive to US pressure on this issue than they have been to Israeli complaints,” the cable said.

I wonder why the Iranians think they need help from Turkey. After all, the Germans do such a good job on their own of helping Iran beat the sanctions.

Labels: German-Iranian trade, Hamas, Iran sanctions regime, Syria, Turkey

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:13 AM