Turkey Chooses Pro-Erdogan Ambassador To ‘Israel’ In Bid to Normalize Ties

By Staff, Agencies

Turkey has selected a new ambassador to the ‘Israeli’-occupied territories in line with efforts to normalize relations with the Zionist entity and score brownie points with the incoming administration of US President-elect Joe Biden, several well-placed sources have told Al-Monitor.

The new ambassador, Ufuk Ulutas, 40, is chairman for the Center for Strategic Research at the Turkish Foreign Ministry and a political appointee who studied Hebrew and Middle Eastern politics at the Hebrew University in occupied al-Quds. He also worked as director of the SETA foundation, a pro-government think tank, and written numerous papers on the Middle East policy and Jewish history.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has fashioned himself as a standard bearer of Palestinian rights in the Muslim world, and once booming relations between Turkey and ‘Israel’ have steadily deteriorated since his Justice and Development Party [AKP] rose to power in 2002.

For all of Erdogan’s posturing, Turkey finds itself increasingly isolated and economically squeezed. With US and EU sanctions looming, it’s been trying to patch up relations with Washington and the European Union even as it continues to engage in the same behavior — locking up critics, flirting with Russia and flexing its muscles in the eastern Mediterranean — that draws Western ire.

One of the ways of making nice with Washington, or so Ankara’s thinking goes, is to be perceived as on good terms with the Zionist regime. According to Al-Monitor, Turkey’s spy chief Hakan Fidan held secret talks with ‘Israeli’ officials and the idea of restoring ties to the ambassadorial level was reportedly floated.

Ulutas’ nomination coincided with a routine rotation of Turkish ambassadors. His name did not appear on the final list, seen by Al-Monitor, which includes new appointees for Washington and the UN mission in New York.

Turkey appointed Murat Mercan, a founding member of the AKP and currently ambassador in Tokyo, to be US ambassador. Meanwhile deputy foreign minister Sedat Onal will become UN ambassador in New York. Ulutas' appointment has yet to be formally announced.

This marks the first time, however, that Turkey would be sending a non-career diplomat to the Zionist entity, a post that has been traditionally reserved for its best and brightest envoys such as Namik Tan, a former ambassador to Washington. It’s also unclear whether the Zionist regime will send an ambassador to Ankara anytime soon.