Changing Turkish-Israeli relations after the 2008 Gaza war

This thesis examines the deterioration of Turkish-Israeli relations after Israel's Operation Cast Lead against Gaza in 2008. It explains the changing Turkish-Israeli relationship in light of Jakob Gustavsson's model of foreign policy change, that is, by both considering the structural factors of the period and by analyzing the role of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as the Prime Minister. This thesis argues that although a number of structural factors constituted a ground for the deterioration of Turkish-Israeli relations from the late 1990s and early 2000s onwards, relations were on a relatively positive track following the foundation of the Justice and Development Party (JDP), and there was no radical change in the relationship until 2008. However, Israel's Gaza operation in 2008 received a very harsh response from the then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and brought the Turkish-Israeli relationship to a critical level. In the aftermath of the Operation Cast Lead, Erdoğan's ideology, which has its roots in the National Outlook (Milli Görüş) tradition, as well as his personality traits played an important role in bringing the Turkish-Israeli relations to the point of rupture.