Turkey’s act of issuing arrest warrants for alleged genocide against 37 people, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is a calculated political move that deliberately punishes Israel, according to an expert. Dr. Hai Eitan Cohen Yanrojak, an Israeli scholar whose research focuses on modern Turkey, said that though the warrants have no meaning as long as Netanyahu and others set foot on Turkish soil, it is more than just a symbolic statement.
Dr Yanrojak told Hebrew news website Maariv said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, though the warrants, was telling the state of Israel that as long as the current government is in power, it will not actually normalise relations with Israel.
The expert called it a secret operation that spanned several years. “From what I get from the Turkish media, they prepared it several months ahead. There are all kinds of documents from hospitals in the Gaza Strip. They added all kinds of different evidence from all kinds of different incidents that occurred in the war,” Dr Yanrojak said, adding that it was quite serious and comprehensive work that was spread out over several months.
The fact that Turkey is not a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court makes the process even more complicated. “The Hague court’s arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Former Defence Minister Yoav Galant received symbolic support from Ankara despite the decision having no meaning on Turkish soil. Therefore, the Turkish warrants are some kind of act that complements the court’s decision,” he said.
What motivated Erdogan to take such a drastic step? “Undoubtedly, every time he takes some drastic step against the State of Israel, it does good for domestic politics, but beyond that, it maintains his image in the Muslim world as well. So it’s good for his legacy as well,” Dr Yanrojak added.
He thinks there is another dimension to Turkey’s stance against Israel. Turkey aspires to be involved in the “day after” in Gaza. “We see that the first phase of the agreement has not yet been implemented, and as a result, we are still not moving on to the second phase. In the second phase, despite the fact that on paper that Turkey was also supposed to take part in the Israeli government’s statements, we understand that this will not happen. So the warrants can also be interpreted as a kind of Turkish punishment for Israel’s closing of the doors,” he added.
“The Turkish message is clear: Ankara is closing the door to the current Israeli government, and is doing so in a systematic and planned manner. This is not a passing storm in diplomatic relations, but a deliberate policy that will affect the regional future even after the war in Gaza ends.
