Friday, October 16, 2009

Saudi Arabia and Turkish foreign policy

Whenever Iran or Turkey take a position that is opposed to Israel, Arab governments--all of them--get nervous because that further exposes them via-a-vis their populations. The recent Turkish criticisms of Israel, especially since the savage Israeli assault on Gaza, make Arab government nervous because they just don't want to upset Israel or to join any criticisms of Israel. But when a non-Arab government, especially Turkey which has a long standing relation with Israel, voices objections to Israeli massacres, Arab governments are inevitably embarrassed. Saudi media want to downplay the crisis in Turkish-Israeli relations (and I don't want to exaggerate the crisis myself). But notice this propaganda item in the mouthpiece of Prince Salman (Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat): they are citing one Turkish source to claim that the crisis in Turkish-Israeli relations has nothing to do with the war in Gaza.