Azerbaijan, Baku, June 4 / Trend R. Hafizoglu /
When Justice and Development Party (JDP) came to power, anti-Semitic mood has intensified in Turkey, director of the Central Asia and Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University Svante Cornell said.
"Anti-Semitism in Turkey is expressed in various areas, for example the Turkish film "Valley of the Wolves", which promotes anti-Semitism. It did not cause proper reaction of the Turkish authorities", Cornell told Trend over phone from Stockholm.
What is happening between Israel and Turkey is the victory of the forces close to Prime Minister Erdogan, the expert said.
Relations between Turkey and Israel aggravated following the May 31 attacks committed by the Israeli military on the "Freedom Flotilla", moving to the Gaza with the humanitarian aid. As a result of the attack, nine people, including eight Turkish citizens died, 19 were injured, several people missed.
Turkish State Minister Egemen Bakish told media on Sunday that Ankara is waiting for an apology from Israel for committed action against international activists, including Turkish citizens.
Turkish MP also considers that it necessary to strengthen the economic pressure on Israel.
According to the expert, before the summit in Davos in 2009, Turkey was regarded as a reliable strategic partner of the United States.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan left the meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2009. "You know very well how to kill people," Turkish Prime Minister emotionally said after the speech of Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Erdogan sharply criticized actions of Israeli army in Gaza. He said that he will not participate in this forum any more. "There is no Davos for me. I will not come here any more," he promised and left a meeting place.
After the outburst of Turkish Prime Minister towards the Israeli president, it became clear that Ankara is not the ally on which one can rely, Cornell said.
He said that the recent tripartite agreement on the exchange of uranium reached between Turkey, Brazil and Iran, has intensified doubts of the West in reliability of Ankara as a strategic partner.
Iran and Turkey signed an agreement on exchange of 1,200 kg of low enriched uranium for a 20-percent fuel in Turkey May 17. Iranian low enriched uranium can be delivered to Turkey during a month after the signing of an agreement between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).