World News and Trends: The Turkish-Israel dilemma
Turkey and Israel have generally enjoyed mutually beneficial diplomatic relations ever since Israel became a new nation in 1948. Last year that relationship hit some rapids.
Turkey and Israel have generally enjoyed mutually beneficial diplomatic relations ever since Israel became a new nation in 1948. Last year that relationship hit some rapids. Stated The New York Times: "A multinational air force exercise that was supposed to take place in Turkey has been postponed indefinitely after the Turks asked Israel not to participate, officials said Sunday, in a sign of the strained relations between the two allies" (Oct. 12, 2009, emphasis added throughout).
Then came the unwelcome news of "a war of words ignited by a new Turkish TV series depicting Israeli military atrocities" ("TV Show Deepens Split Between Israel and Turkey," The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 19, 2009). The plotline of this popular action drama is fictional but cast Israel in this light as supposedly reflective of reality.
This unfortunate incident shook "what is probably Israel's strongest partnership in the Middle East...The two countries have long had strong diplomatic and trade relations, and Turkey has been a substantial buyer of Israeli military hardware. For years Israeli pilots trained in Turkish airspace" (ibid.).
Financial Times columnist Philip Stephens pointed out that "ignoring anxieties in Western capitals [not to mention Israel], Turkey has engaged with the Palestinian Hamas and with the Iranian-sponsored Hizbollah in Lebanon" (Oct. 23, 2009). Also Turkey has opened its border to Syria, a nation typically hostile to the West, offering Syrians visa-free travel.
Since becoming prime minister in 2003, Recep Erdogan has slowly but steadily shifted Turkey's orientation from the West (the country being a member of the NATO alliance and a candidate to join the European Union) toward its Muslim neighbors to the east—including such unsavory players as Iran and Syria.
Considering recent trends in Turkey and the Islamic world, Israel's hope for restoring close relations with Turkey may be past the point of no return. The rest of the West can only hope that Turkey, with its vast resources and 77 million population, retains its secular character and doesn't adopt the hardline fundamentalist Islam of its neighbors. (Sources: The New York Times, Financial Times [London], The Wall Street Journal.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: March - April 2010
Course Content
Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
