Analysing the Role of Turkey in Israel’s Post-2011 Regional Vision through the Lens of Identity-Security: Challenger or Bystander?

Year 2023, Volume: 23 Issue: 2, 359 - 374, 04.07.2023

Ferit Belder , Nurlan Mumınov

https://doi.org/10.18037/ausbd.1220864

Abstract

Turkey’s engagement in Middle Eastern politics, significantly since the Arab Uprising, has continuously changed the direction of decades-old Turkey–Israel relations. The existing literature elaborates on several aspects of destabilising or normalizing relations between these two countries, but the dimension of Israel’s identity-based threat perception is yet to be revealed, despite Israel having long tried to balance identities in the region. By asking whether Turkey challenges Israel’s identity-based regional vision or plays a bystander role, this study presents a two-layered analysis of Israel–Turkey relations. While discussing the cognitive essence of Israel’s post-2011 regional perspective that transformed the ‘identity-based threat’ perceptions in an uncertain environment, it locates Turkey’s engagement in the region into Israel's regional understanding. Within this aim, the paper is organized as follows. First, the current literature on Israel–Turkey relations is summarized to see not only the short history of relations but also the major trends in studying Israel–Turkey relations. Second, the changing threat perceptions of Israel after the Arab Uprisings are examined to identify the continuities and changes. The third part locates Turkey in Israel’s regional vision by discussing the Egyptian and Syrian experiences of the Arab Uprisings. In the final part, the commitment policies of regional actors regarding the Palestinian issue are comparatively analysed to make sense of Israeli normalization with the Gulf States and re-normalization with Turkey. By going beyond the challenger/bystander spectrum, this study claims that Turkey’s position in all cases shows the characteristics of the ‘disobedient bystander’.

Keywords

Israel, Identity-Security, Arab Uprising, Normalization, Crisis

İsrail’in 2011 Sonrası Bölgesel Vizyonunda Türkiye’nin Konumunun Kimlik-Güvenlik Penceresinden Analizi: Meydan Okuyucu Mu Yoksa Seyirci Mi?

Abstract

Türkiye’nin özellikle Arap Baharıyla beraber Orta Doğu siyasetine artan katılımı on yıllarca süren Türkiye–İsrail ilişkilerinin gidişatını sürekli bir şekilde değiştirmeye devam etmektedir. Mevcut literatür bu iki ülke arasındaki ilişkilerin istikrarını bozan ya da normalleştiren pek çok özelliğini detaylıca ele almakta fakat İsrail’in çok uzun süredir bölgede kimlikleri dengeleme çabasında olmasına karşın, İsrail’in kimlik bazlı tehdit anlayışı boyutu henüz açığa çıkarılmamaktadır. Bu çalışma, Türkiye’nin İsrail’in kimlik odaklı bölgesel vizyonuna bir meydan okuma mı yarattığı yoksa seyirci mi kaldığını sorarak İsrail-Türkiye ilişkilerine iki katmanlı bir analiz getirmektedir. İsrail’in 2011 sonrası belirsizlik içeren ortamında bölgesel perspektifinin ‘kimlik odaklı tehdit’ algılarının dönüştüren bilişsel özü tartışılırken aynı zamanda Türkiye’nin bölgeye angajmanını İsrail’in bölgesel anlayışı içerisinde konumlandırmaktadır. Bu amaçla, makale şu şekilde organize edilmiştir. İlk olarak İsrail– Türkiye ilişkileri literatürü yalnızca ikili ilişkilerin kısa tarihini değil aynı zamanda İsrail– Türkiye ilişkileri çalışmalarındaki temel eğilimleri görmek için de özetlenmektedir. İkinci olarak, İsrail’in Arap Baharı sonrası değişen tehdit anlayışları süreklilikleri ve değişiklikleri görmek için ele alınmaktadır. Üçüncü bölüm Arap Baharı’nın Mısır ve Suriye deneyimlerini tartışarak, Türkiye’yi İsrail’in bölge vizyonu içerisinde konumlandırmaktadır. Son bölümde ise Filistin meselesi üzerinden bölgesel aktörlerin bağlılık siyasetleri, İsrail’in Körfez devletleriyle normalleşmesi ve Türkiye ile yeniden normalleşmesini anlamlandırmak için karşılaştırmalı olarak analiz edilmektedir. Meydan okuyucu/seyirci kalma izgesinin ötesine geçerek bu çalışma Türkiye’nin tüm bu vakalarda ‘zorlayıcı seyirci’ özelliklerini gösterdiğini iddia etmektedir.

Keywords

İsrail, Kimlik- Güvenlik, Arap Ayaklanmaları, Normalleşme, Kriz

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