Turkish-Israeli Relations Casualty of Iraq War

In a piece entitled "Turkey in Transformation", the magazine defends that political relations are becoming increasingly more distant between the two Middle Eastern democracies. In addition, several trading agreements between the two countries have recently been canceled. Business Week points out that the rift developing between the two countries is important to keep an eye on because Turkey is the second important country for Israel after US.

Statements from former US Ambassador to Turkey Mark Parris are also included in the piece. Parris drew specific attention to the fact that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not receive Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during his trip to Turkey.

Business Week goes on to mention that despite Sharon’s insistence that Israelis are not training Kurds in northern Iraq, Ankara reacted furiously to the news. The magazine suggests that Sharon’s denials could be genuine, because it would not make sense for Israel to cooperate with Kurds against a country as powerful as Turkey.