A NATO initiative to bring together Israel and six Arab states situated along the Mediterranean has been scrapped after Turkey and Egypt raised objections. Turkish diplomats scrambled to deny that their moves had anything to do with ongoing anti-Israel diplomacy being conducted by the Islamist Justice and Development party of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan:

“The general-secretary was planning to invite the foreign ministers of the Mediterranean Dialogue countries on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers meeting scheduled for April 23 but Turkey objected to the idea,” a Western diplomat told Hurriyet. However, Ankara rejected the claim. “It’s not right that we have objected. This sort of meeting was not held since 2008 because of the political problems between Israel and Arab countries. At this stage, such a meeting would not be useful,” a Turkish official told Hurriyet.

The nearly decade-old Mediterranean Dialogue aims to bring Israel, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Algeria, and Jordan together to help promote regional security and stability. The group last met five years ago, and only at the level of foreign minister. Erdogan has has bragged in the past about blocking regional initiatives designed to promote cooperation between NATO and Israel, and Turkey has been criticized for thereby undermining NATO’s capabilities.

The moves related to the Mediterranean Dialogue come amid growing U.S. concerns and analyst worries to the effect that Erdogan is backsliding on a recent deal to pursue reconciliation between Israel and Turkey.

Barak Seener, an associate fellow at London’s Royal United Services Institute think tank, told The Tower that Turkey’s diplomacy toward Israel was linked to wider efforts by Ankara to establish influence in the Middle East.

“Turkey is seeking to wield primacy in the Arab world. As such it may cooperate with Israel covertly on Iran, but not on matters that could cause its image to decline in the broader Sunni world,” he said. He added that Israel’s recent apology for a 2010 raid on a Turkish vessel trying to breach Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip “may buy it strategic cooperation [with Turkey] on the Iranian issue, but within a Middle East framework its relationship will remain tepid in the foreseeable future.”

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