Contemporary Israeli-Turkish Relations in Comparative Perspective.

• Author: Sever, Aysegul

Contemporary Israeli-Turkish Relations in Comparative Perspective is a comprehensive book written by eleven academics from Turkey and Israel. Even though the book covers a broad range of topics written by authors from different theoretical perspectives, the outcome is strong in terms of both consistency and continuity. The authors' diverse perspectives are combined with a well-integrated collection of chapters around particular themes prompting readers to think in new ways.

The first chapter of the book gives general insights on Turkish-Israeli relations with a historical background and argues that the last decade is the most challenging period in the history of Turkish-Israeli relations. The second chapter attempts to compare national identity building in both countries and focuses on the role of religious narratives in the nation-building policies. Without a doubt, Israel and Turkey had different historical backgrounds. While Turkish nation was rebuilt after the collapse of a multi-national empire, Jewish nation had no state for more than two thousand years. Both states attempted to build secular nation-states relatively independent from their respective religious identities. In fact, for both states, during their foundational period the western world was taken as an example of a positive model as opposed to what they perceive as a Middle Eastern model. Thus, based on such similarities, this chapter underlines the resemblances between two state identities, Kemalism and Zionism and two respective leaders, Atatürk and Ben Gurion. The chapter concludes by stating how the impact of religion on bilateral relations between two nations increased in the last two decades, which in turn worsened bilateral relations.

The third chapter is about the impact of civil society organizations on bilateral relations. The chapter analyzes and compares civil society organizations in both countries and reaches to the conclusion that in both cases civil societies are highly politicized and shaped by their relations with the incumbents. In fact, civil society organizations that are siding with the governments prosper economically and the ones in the opposition face constant difficulties. The authors then show how civil society organizations in both countries are accused of being disloyal or even traitors when they oppose the views of governing parties.

Fourth chapter focuses on the Mavi Marmara incident of 2010 as the turning point of Turkish-Israeli relations...