Will Erdogan setback change Turkey’s Israel ties?

A political upheaval is seemingly underway in Turkey, as the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan experienced a significant setback in the country’s June 7 parliamentary election. What does this mean for the country’s future as well as its relationship with the West and Israel?

Although Erdogan’s Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) party again received the most votes, the number of seats it won is not enough for a parliament majority, thwarting Erdogan’s reported plan to amend the Turkish constitution to give the presidency more executive power. The results could force the AKP to form a governing coalition with other parties might even face being completely ousted from a coalition by the other parties.

Erdogan’s setback comes against the backdrop of the Turkish leader’s ongoing anti-Israel foreign policy and anti-Semitic rhetoric.

“Particularly since the Gezi Park protests in 2013 [against Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule], Erdogan and other leaders of the AKP have spent a lot of time railing against various foreign interests that they claim do not have Turkey’s best interest at heart,” Michael Koplow, program director of the Israel Institute think tank, told JNS.org.

For example, during the recent election campaign, Erdogan lashed out at the foreign media for criticizing him—and floated an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory in the process. At a rally, he said that “Jewish capital” funds the New York Times and that the newspaper has consistently criticized Turkey’s leaders dating back to the days of the Ottoman Empire.

“It’s clear who their patrons are. There is Jewish capital behind it, unfortunately,” Erdogan said, AFP reported. 

While the recent elections results were a setback for Erdogan’s ambitions to seize more power, they are unlikely to change Erdogan’s behavior, according to Koplow.