The limits of Erdogan’s charm offensive with Israel
The latest visit to Turkey of Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has put the Israel-Turkey relationship in the spotlight. Despite the continued tensions on a number of issues – from Turkey’s hosting of Hamas to Turkish President Erdogan’s aggressive rhetoric in the past against Israel – Ankara and Jerusalem have taken several steps to improve relations this year.
Sinan Ciddi, the co-author of a recent piece in The National Interest titled “The Limits of Turkey’s Charm Offensive”, joins Thanos Davelis to discuss Erdogan’s charm offensive with Israel, what’s motivating Ankara to try and mend relations with Jerusalem, and whether this effort is, at best, window dressing on a cold peace.
Sinan Ciddi is a non-resident senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he contributes to FDD’s Turkey Program and Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP). He is also an Associate Professor of Security Studies at the Command and Staff College-Marine Corps University and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.
