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The Jewish Voice and Opinion
Turkey
September 2011
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apply only to commercial ties that the Turkish government and its military have with Israel. Such deals are estimated to be worth several million dollars a year, a tiny fraction of Israeli exports to Turkey, which totaled $13 billion in 2010. A Turkish official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Mr. Erdoğan could not suspend all commercial ties even if he wanted to. “With all due respect, Turkey is a democracy and Mr. Erdoğan cannot tell businessmen where they should do business, not unless the Turkish parliament declares Israel an enemy state, and there is no such proposal on the table,” he said. Business as Usual Nevertheless, some Israelis are worried. “If Turkey carries out its threat to sever diplomatic ties
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with Israel due to Israel’s refusal to issue an apology for the flotilla events, the trade relations between the two countries will be severely damaged,” said Uriel Lynn, president of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce. He said he hoped the Israeli government “skillfully finds a way to restore relations with Turkey.” Other voices from the Israeli business sector were more optimistic. Sam Donnerstein, owner of Rav Bariach, a security door and lock manufacturer, whose exports to Turkey stand at $1.7 million, said he did not believe business ties would be severed. According to Mr. Donnerstein, his company’s business with Turkey more than doubled in the past year, and his Turkish customers, he said, are well aware that the company is Israeli.
Other companies engaged in business with Turkey said that although their Turkish clients know that are dealing with Israeli companies, it has been “business as usual.” Ahead of the Game Turkey’s position on military agreements with Israel did not faze officials in the Jewish state who said Jerusalem had suspended military ties with Turkey some time ago. “We didn’t want to risk any weapons made in Israel falling into the wrong hands,” a diplomatic source said. A source in a company that deals with defense clients said a split between Israel and Turkey would have “no substantial effect” on the industry. He explained that statements made by Mr. Erdogan over the years, coupled with his warmer relations with Iran, made it clear to the Israeli
defense sector that Turkey’s days as a strategic asset for Israel’s defense industry were numbered at best. “Some voices within the defense industry are even calling for limited trade agreements with Turkey,” a senior official said. Turkey in a Crisis The Turkish response reminded many observers of the way Ankara has handled the issue of the Armenian genocide that began in 1915 and continued until just after World War I. During that time, the Turks murdered 1.5 million Armenian men, woman, and children. Some were slain on the spot, others were deported through forced marches designed to lead to their deaths. Most scholars see the Turkish action as the first of the modern genocides, a systematic, organized slaughter intended
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