What would a Turkey-Israel rapprochement mean for regional geopolitics?
1 Jan 2021
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While diplomatic relations remain tense, both countries are signalling at potential for improved ties.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev recently stated that he was seeking to mend relations between Turkey and Israel, countries whose support played a critical role in Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh last month.
“Aliyev and his senior advisers have communicated that they want to see both of their good friends Turkey and Israel getting back to normal relations and they are willing to help to make that happen, Israeli officials told local media last week.
At the start of 2020, talks to end the years-long Gulf diplomatic crisis abruptly came to an end.
For nearly a whole year, the regional rift between Qatar and a Saudi-led alliance remained in a stalemate as countries focused their efforts on combating the coronavirus pandemic.
But earlier this month, reports of a potential deal to resolve the dispute has raised questions about what a preliminary agreement would entail, and who exactly would it involve.
Reports of reconciliation come ahead of an upcoming GCC summit, scheduled to convene in the Saudi capital Riyadh on January 5.
The reports come nearly four years after an air, land and sea blockade was imposed on Qatar by fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain as well as non-GCC member Egypt.
UK Group of MPs Call on The Cabinet to Impose Sanctions on Saudi But Will it Happen? Published December 20th, 2020 - 01:00 GMT
Saudi Arabia, KSA green flag (Shutterstock)
Highlights
The expectation is that the next administration will put some pressure on the Saudi Kingdom in relation to human rights issues
Criticism bereft of significant political and financial pressures on the Saudi regime may have little effect on its human rights violations
A group of British MPs and lawyers called on the UK and other countries to impose Magnitsky-style sanctions on Saudi Arabia this week over its human rights abuses of royal family members, and other high-profile detainees. The call comes as US president-elect Joe Biden prepares to enter office, though little change is expected regarding human rights violations in the Kingdom.