Israel, Turkey and Greece

Book excerpt: The triangle described in this book hardly exists in reality. Tripartite relations among Greece, Turkey and Israel, if discernible at all, revolve around the crises which constantly beset the Middle East and the East Mediterranean. Even then, it is not a triangle per se: the three states seldom pursue a common policy. This book describes the various bones of contention among the three in all possible spheres—political, economic, religious, etc.—as well as the areas and periods of understanding among them. What emerges quite clearly is the fact that any show of unanimity among Ankara, Athens and Jerusalem was, in the past, likely to rest more on some temporary community of interest than on any inherent belief in the need for unanimity.