Like a great ship heading straight for an iceberg, we're watching the deterioration of our relations with Turkey, our distant neighbor which for decades has had a complex and challenging relationship with us. The suspension of joint military exercises and however many summer vacations to Turkey are cancelled must not be a preview of the complete severing of economic ties between the Israeli and Turkish markets.
Turkey has a population of 80 million, and an improving standard of living. Its importance to the Israeli market is not just in domestic Turkish consumption, but as a bridge to Arab countries. Israeli technology reaches countries that do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel via Turkey.
Many Israelis do not understand the importance of the Turkish market to the Israeli economy. Three months ago, I participated in a large cleantech conference in Italy together with representatives from our Arab neighbors. I was astonished to discover that the pavilion of the company I head was the only Israeli pavilion. I told my colleagues that anyone who skipped the conference missed out.
Israel's cleantech industry is showing growing, but still insufficient, interest in the Turkish market. The Turks are important consumers in the growing global cleantech market. Through the Turks, the sun-drenched Arabs of the Middle East are enjoying Israeli renewable energy technologies. The same is true for agriculture and other Israeli technologies.
It's easy to sink into the general mood of despair and react to the Turks' conduct by declaring a reciprocal embargo and to make a show of flexing economic muscles, but is this in Israel's national interest? Can we really forego, with the wave a hand, the widespread economic relations that have existed with the largest democratic republic in the Middle East in a strategic location that straddles Asia and Europe?
Since Israel's diplomatic relations with Turkey are now at an unprecedented low point, a great responsibility now lies on Israel's political leadership to navigate the current crisis and bilateral relations with care and caution and not to sacrifice the foundations laid over so many years for the important economic ties between the two nations.
Israel's economic leaders and company executives with Turkish ties cannot wait quietly for the crisis to pass. Diplomatic reality is dynamic; diplomatic processes, internal elections, and changes in personalities can bring about change in the atmosphere between the Israeli and Turkish governments. But economic relations, if destroyed now, will not be rebuilt so quickly. This is the time, now, for aggressive and smart marketing intended to show that we won't easily forego the strategic economic ties we work so hard to achieve.
The 14th Cleantech International Summit and Exhibition will be held in Tel Aviv at the end of June. Five Turkish delegations have cancelled their participation in the last 24 hours. However, we have no intention of merely letting this happen. The effort to bring the Turks is nearly impossible, but it is critical. We're not talking about just another marketing campaign, but a holding battle to maintain what remains of Israel's economic relations with Turkey. For every plane evacuating Israeli tourists from Turkey, there should be a plane carrying top Israeli businesspeople going the other way. This is the only way to ensure that, when the fury subsides, there will an economic infrastructure in place for future relations. Now is the time for the economy to speak.
The author is CEO of Mashov Publishing, Fairs and Exhibitions Company, which is organizing the14th Cleantech International Summit and Exhibition, which will be held on June 29-30 in Tel Aviv.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 2, 2010
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