Tensions between Turkey and Israel have not disappeared, but they did not deter Suat Kiniklioglu, Member of the Turkish Parliament and Deputy Chairman of the AK Party for External Affairs, from coming to Israel for a security-related conference in Tel Aviv.
The following video features Kiniklioglu's full speech at the 3rd Annual International Conference of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv. This year's conference was titled "Security Challenges of the 21st Century." Kiniklioglu participated in a panel discussion titled "Turkey: A Strategic Challenge and Asset".
Kiniklioglu related to the importance his country sees in the relations with countries which do not have peaceful relations with the West. "After the disintegration of the Soviet Union" explained Kiniklioglu, "Turkey found itself with a multitude of neighbors and a multitude of problems and issues. The neighborhood policy that Turkey has been initiating since 2002 is basically motivated by Turkey re-integrating into its immediate neighbors".
Kiniklioglu said that the international community should stop trying to act against Turkey's connections with other Muslim countries. "The fact is that Turkish national security interests necessitate [that] Turkey engage with Russia, with Syria, with Iraq, with Greece and with Bulgaria at the same time. We value our first strategic priority, which is to become a full member of the European Union, and our strategic partnership with the United States but we cannot further Turkish national security interests by neglecting our eastern, northern, or southern dimension. Turkey will continue to engage with North, East, West and South."