Eli Shaked, Israeli Former Ambassador to Turkey, is not alarmed with “Worrisome trend of Turkey’s souring relationship with Israel,” Jewish Tribune article as of Nov 12. reads.

According to him, “Turkey’s anger at Israel and its embracing Syria and Iran is a tactical, not a strategic, move. Nonetheless, on the very day that Shaked made his observations, a Turkish mob threw eggs at the present ambassador, Gabi Levy. A few days before, Turkey signed a US $10 million oil refinement deal with Iran, in defiance of the US call for sanctions,” the source reads.

Shaked explained that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is backing neo-Ottomanism which “favors a common market with its Muslim neighbors.”

The paper quotes Shaked saying that Davutoglu “aspires to transform Turkey into a superpower and enhance its military and economic strengths while avoiding conflict with its neighbors.”

“Turkey recently restored diplomatic ties with Armenia, its eastern neighbor and century-old enemy. This in turn upset Turkey's cordial relationship with Azerbaijan, which disputes territory occupied by its Armenian neighbor. In the past, Turkey performed joint military exercises with the Jewish state. However, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of war crimes during its Cast Lead operations in Gaza. Yet Ankara never condemned Hamas for firing rockets into Israel’s south,” Jewish Tribune says.

Shaked maintained that Turkey's thrashing over Israel “is merely a way of expressing its frustration at not being admitted to the EU.”

He also underlined that “whether the Turkish PM is an antisemite is less significant. What is more important is whether Erdogan will restore its economic and military ties with Israel. Other Turkish leaders were anti-Semitic but knew how to hide it,” the source quotes Shaked.

The paper concludes saying that “despite Turkey's dampened relations with Israel, Shaked feels that Europe's castigating Turkey for its human rights violations, along with a strong Armenian lobby in Washington, will keep Turkey in line.”