Israeli-Turkish Relations at the End of the Cold WarThe Geopolitics of Denying the Armenian Genocide

Eldad Ben Aharon's book provides original and important insights into the first "global war on terror" under the Reagan administration in the 1980s. Drawing upon extensive archival research and interviews, this book examines how Cold War-era ontological fears of international terrorism shaped liaison efforts amongst the U.S., Israel and Turkey. This notably led to delays in the recognition of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 for several decades. This compelling work highlights the deep interconnections between security policy and historical memory.

This ground-breaking study examines the evolution of the Israeli-Turkish alliance in the late Cold War era, laying the foundation for a decades-long partnership. It meticulously explores how Israel seized Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide in the 1970s as a launching point to build trust in a country that viewed Israel’s close ties with Washington as a means to shape policy. To the surprise of many, the foundations of the alliance endured major political shifts, with the rise of Erdogan and Netanyahu. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Israel-Turkish relations and their impact on the geopolitical dynamics of the Middle East. Unequivocally, this work positions Eldad Ben-Aharon as a leading authority on Israeli-Turkish ties, just as relations between the two countries have hit rock bottom in the wake of the events of Oct 7th. In short, few can match Ben-Aharon’s ability to manoeuvre the political world of Israel, Turkey, the United States and the Middle East, crafting a compelling and very readable analysis.

Israeli-Turkish Relations at the End of the Cold War is an important contribution to understanding the role that terrorism can play in influencing diplomacy and geo-strategic realities. Eldad Ben Aharon skilfully dissects the complexities of Israeli, Turkish and American foreign policy during the 1980s as each sought to preserve good relations with one another against a backdrop of a violent campaign to avenge and gain recognition of the Armenian genocide.

In his carefully researched and argued book, Eldad Ben Aharon shows how the Israeli state’s comportment to the Armenian Genocide was the contingent outcome of regional geopolitics and Cold War contexts, ranging from the Iranian revolution in 1979 to Turkish domestic policy. Bridging multiple scales of analysis, Israeli–Turkish Relations at the End of the Cold War is a methodological tour de force on an unjustly neglected topic.

Eldad Ben Aharon’s ground-breaking study sheds new light on how Israeli diplomats, operating under Cold War pressure, worked in quiet coordination with Turkey to suppress international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. It reveals how a complex geopolitical climate, shaped by events such as the 1979 Islamic Revolution and Turkey’s 1980 military coup, prompted the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to leverage the Armenian issue as a shared concern, deepening ties with Ankara behind the scenes. Based on a rich array of primary sources, this book offers a compelling portrait of Israeli foreign policy in the final decade of the Cold War and of Middle Eastern diplomacy that paved the way for the ‘golden years’ of the 1990s.

This meticulously researched book breaks the academic silence surrounding Israeli–Turkish relations in the 1980s, offering also fresh insight into U.S. regional policies. Particularly compelling is its analysis of the contested memory of the Armenian Genocide and its entanglement with Israeli narratives of Holocaust exclusivity. A vital read for anyone seeking to understand the shifting dynamics of the modern Middle East.

Drawing on his deep knowledge on the subject and a wealth of interviews with senior diplomats, Ben Ahron has produced a deeply researched study. It provides a rich account of Israeli-Turkish relations at the end of the Cold War, with a sharp focus on the interplay between foreign and security policies, the international politics of memory, and the role of key individuals. It should be of great value to both students and scholars.