Should Israel be Turkey’s Wet Rag?
Israel has very, very few strategic friends . In the United Nations, for example, just three countries reliably vote against anti-Israel motions: Israel , United States and (believe it or not) Micronesia . Against this background, Turkey became a strategic ally to Israel in the late 1990’s, resulting in a Free Trade Agreement in 2000 (Israel now exports an annual $1.5 billion in goods and services to Turkey, and imports more than $1 billion); large Turkish Ministry of Defence contracts for Israeli products, with joint military exercises; and Turkey’s key diplomatic role in Israel/Syrian negotiations By 2008, Turkey was the single most popular foreign destination for Israeli tourists, representing 13% of all departures and generating an estimated $300 million in annual revenues. About 70% of these travelers headed for the resorts around Antalya . This idyllic relationship seemed to also weather the change in Government in Turkey , in March 2003, from the secular DSP-MHP-ANAP