Hans Rustad Recep Tayyip Erdogan spiller et stadig høyere spill i forhold til Israel. Han sier han vil bruke tyrkisk marine for å beskytte en ny konvoi til Gaza.
Men mest alvorlig er trusselen om ikke å akseptere Israelsk utvinng av gassfelt utenfor sin kyst.
Israel har avtalt en delelinje med Kypros, og det er planlagt å føre gassen i land der.
But Israeli diplomats and experts here and abroad said that while they were not overly concerned about a flotilla to Gaza materializing soon, the naval threat regarding the gas fields could prove more dangerous.
“Israel and Cyprus reached agreement dividing the water between the two of them for gas drilling,” Alon Liel, a former ambassador to Turkey said. “Turkey said the division was illegal. Israel is also clashing with Lebanon on demarcation and drilling rights. Turkey will also support Lebanon and things could escalate.”
Mr. Liel said that Israel hoped to export its gas via Cyprus in a few years, and that would require the digging of a large port there — something that he imagined that Turkey would try to prevent. That could mean possible clashes between Israel and Turkey like those Turkey has had with Greece over drilling and demarcation.
Henri Barkey, a professor of international relations at Lehigh University, said Mr. Erdogan was trying to force the United States into the uncomfortable position of choosing between its ally Israel and Turkey, a NATO-member nation.
Turkey announced last week that it would host a NATO missile defense shield to protect against a potential strike from Iran. If tensions between Israel and Turkey increase, that could put NATO in a delicate spot.
“This is very high-stakes poker,” Professor Barkey said. “It’s very, very dangerous.”
