Prime Minister Bulend Ulusu, head of the Turkish military government, said here that his country’s lowering of diplomatic relations with Israel was prompted by Israel’s intransigent policies toward the Palestinians and the historic links between Turkey and the Arab countries. But the daily Arabeiter-zeitung, which covered Ulus’s press conference suggested that there were more specific reasons for the diplomatic break.
According to the newspaper, one could have been the activities of the Massad, the Israeli secret service which was allegedly involved in terrorist activities in Turkey. But there has been no substantiating evidence for this. Another reason could be the Iraqi-Iranian war which has drawn Turkey closer to the more conservative Arab states. The Arbeitterzeitung noted that Turkey announced its lowering of diplomatic relations with Israel shortly after the Turkish Foreign Minister visited Saudi Arabia, earlier this month.
The paper speculated that it may have been the political price demanded by the Saudis for closer relations. Turkey was criticized by Morocco at the recent Islamic conference for being the only Moslem country, except Egypt, to maintain diplomatic ties with Israel.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
