The New York UN Assembly became a site for behind-the-scenes negotiations between Israel and Turkey. Before PM Erdogan delivered his excessively brusque address to the UN, the Israeli side didn’t exclude the possibility that Azerbaijan would assume the role of mediator in this conflict. However, after the speech, any hope of settling the conflict any time soon has vanished.
Israeli Foreign Ministry doesn’t hide its concern about the words of the Turkey’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, who said that ‘Turkey’s concerns should become Azerbaijan’s concerns as well’. Israeli officials took these words as a sign that Turkey is trying to persuade its minor partner to follow its lead and freeze the economic and other relations with Israeli until it chooses to heed Turkey’s demands. This would deliver a serious blow to Israel’s plans of boosting trade relations with Azerbaijan and using its gas.
However, according to the sources close to Israeli government, Azerbaijani representatives reassured Israel that they are not going to subdue to Turkey’s influence, at least, not at the moment, and promised that Azerbaijani-Israeli relations will continue their progressive development. However, Baku expressed its concern with the mounting tension caused by Turkish-Israeli conflict that destabilizes the whole region.
In its turn, Israel s hopes that no ‘third player’ would intervene in the relations between the two countries. However, the pipeline that would deliver Azeri gas to Israel goes through Turkey, so the latter would most certainly play its considerable part in the arrangement.
According to Israeli mass media, the problems with Turkey caused a serious conflict between Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Avigdor Lieberman, the Foreign Minister. In Mr Barak’s opinion, Lieberman gave Israeli PM quit a poor advice by convincing him not to apologize to Turkey. Barak considers Israeli relations with Turkey to be of great importance, so Israel should have heeded the Palmer’s commission recommendations and do everything to return these relations to normal. Lieberman, in his turn, is convinced that any apologies would be futile and would have complicated the situation even further.
Peter Lukimson, Israel, exclusively to VK
