to Turkey, possibly undermining an
American offer to sell Turkey the heli-
copters in exchange for its improving
its human rights record.
All this could mean a total volume
of $3 billion a year in bilateral trade
in the near future, a figure Israel has
with few other countries.
Turks are angry with Europe for
refusing to accept it into the European
Union. Europeans say Turkey must
improve its human rights record, espe-
cially regarding the treatment of the
Kurds. Turkey complains that Europe
is a closed Christian club, prejudiced
against Islamic countries.
Israel's military industries provide
employment to tens of thousands of
people, but until recently they were
on the verge of economic collapse.
Turkey now appears to be filling the
vacuum left by South Africa, once
Israel's major defense client in the
1970s and 1980s.
Both Israel and Turkey see them-
selves culturally and economically
tied to Europe and the West more
than to the region in which they are
located. For Turkey, trade relations
with Israel are also attractive because
of Israel's special economic relation-
ship with North America. The United
States, for example, does not apply
quotas to textile imports from Israel.
Director of the Turkish-Israel busi-
ness council, Ekrem Guvendiren says
that although Turkey has had business
relationships with the United States
for a long time, they haven't been at
the same level as Israel's. "The agree-
ment between the United States and
Israel exempts Israel from customs
duties and limitations on imports. If
Turkish and Israeli businessmen coop-
erate, they can sell goods to the US -
under privileged conditions. By lifting
the taxation between Israel and Turkey
you create an economy that can direct-
ly export to the United States market.
This is a great advantage."
But not everyone in Israel is
thrilled about the Israeli-Turkish free-
trade agreement, which, among other
things, calls for the lifting of all tariffs
on textile imports by the year 2000.
Israeli textile manufacturers have been
nervous about the agreement, believ-
ing that flooding the local market
with Turkish textiles could finish off
the already ailing industry.
Turkey has continued to upgrade
both its strategic and economic rela-
tions. "The reason for this is, I think,
that the leading power behind the
bilateral relations is the army," says
economist Liel.
❑
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We treat our customers the way we'd
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cause that's important to you.
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Amual per
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Berkley (248) 546-2590 • Birmingham (248) 646-8787
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1998