TEL-AVIV HAD WRONGLY TAKEN ANKARA AT LEAST FOR A FRIENDLY COUNTRY
Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.01.2009 GMT+04:00

Turkey is ready to upset her reputation of a peacemaker in order to
finally establish herself as a regional power. For the sake of it
she can even go for intimacy with Iran.

Anti-Semitism has always existed in the world, and most likely
it will live on as long as the Jews exist. Operation "Cast Lead"
simply added fuel to the fire. This time it was Turkey that joined the
anti-Semitic states, a move that theoretically seemed quite unlikely a
few years ago. At least at the time of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer,
a staunch Kemalist, relations between Turkey and Israel were almost
perfect. The Jewish lobby defended Turkish interests all over the
world; US Administration called Turkey its strategic ally and friend.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ With Islamists coming to power, Ankara began to tend
towards Iran and those Arabic countries which actively struggle against
Israel. Shortly after the bombardment of Hamas bases in Gaza Strip,
Turkey Â"sharply condemnedÂ" the actions of Israel. Evidently, the
latter could not expect such turn of events: Tel-Aviv had considered
Ankara a friendly, if not a brotherly country. All around Istanbul
billboards are full of Anti-Semitic posters like "Kill Jews", "Kill
Israel", "Israel should no longer exist in the Middle East". On
the door of a shop a group of people put a huge poster saying:
"Jews and Armenians are not allowed but dogs are allowed". By the
way, dogs are considered dirty animals in Islam… Not to mention
the numerous public demonstrations in support of the Hamas which is
quite intentionally equated with Palestine.

It is clear that Turkey is ready to spoil her reputation of a
peacemaker in order to finally establish herself as a regional
power. For the sake of it she can even go for intimacy with
Iran. Turkish observers consider that even if cooperation between
Iran and Turkey is not able to halt military operations of Israel in
Gaza, it can at least prevent the war from expanding all over the
Middle East region. It is quite natural that Iran should have poor
chances to halt military attacks of Israel on Gaza. And here Turkey
plays its role, and it is worth mentioning that she plays it rather
reasonably. However, there is a serious sticking point here – Arabic
countries, especially those practicing the Sunni branch of Islam,
do not absolutely welcome the Â"flirtingÂ" of Turkey and Syria with
Iran, where dominating religion is Shiism. This is the main reason
why the tandem Turkey-Iran cannot get involved in the war. Moreover,
Iran is in no doubt that mediators won’t be able to stop the war
between Israel and Hamas.

It is still early to speak of serious disagreements between Turkey and
Israel but if the new US Administration Â"reconsidersÂ" its foreign
policy in the Middle East and in relations with Iran in particular,
some cooling between the countries is not far off. The cooling is quite
likely and Prime-Minister Erdogan’s latest statement proves it. On
January 16 he demanded that Israel should be barred from the United
Nations while it ignores the organization’s calls to stop fighting
in Gaza. "How is such a country, which totally ignores and does not
implement resolutions of the U.N. Security Council, allowed to enter
through the gates of the U.N.?" said the Turkish Prime-Minister.

Since January 2009 Turkey has become a non-permanent member of the
UN Security Council and rather shortly it managed to show its true
face. Naturally, Israel will not be barred from the UN, as in that
case too many countries for the same reason would have to be expelled
from the Organization which, to tell the truth, has never managed to
get its resolutions implemented… By the way the United Nations is
marginally to blame for the current Middle East war that has been
lasting for 60 years already. The UN’s share of guilt lies in the
following: when establishing the State of Israel no steps were made
towards the establishment of the State of Palestine. Instead, the
United Nations once more limited itself with a resolution and simply
watched the Jews deal with the Arabic threats. The Jews managed
the task but operations like "Cast Lead" will go on forever until
Palestine has precise borders and demilitarized zones.

The splash of anti-Semitism will gradually come to naught; another
operation of Israeli troops will be completed and a fragile armistice
will be concluded in Gaza until a new provocation of radical Islam
groupings. Let us recall that the cause of the current war was the
capture of Israeli corporal Guilad Schalit who is still held hostage in
Hamas. In the words of Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, liberation
of Guilad Schalit is still a requirement to Hamas. "As a minister I am
responsible for each soldier. I am not going to conduct negotiations
with Hamas in any other matter except the release of Guilad Schalit,"
declared Tzipi Livni in Washington.

By the way on January 17 the United States and Israel signed a
memorandum in Washington. Signing of the memorandum was part of the
efforts directed to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza Strip and to stop
weapon smuggling into Gaza.

At a press conference in Washington US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice said the memorandum of understanding "would improve information
sharing between the two countries to prevent the weapons from reaching
Hamas in Gaza", the EarthTimes agency cites. Israeli Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni, who was in Washington to sign the agreement, called
it a "historic" deal that was a "vital component for the cessation
of hostilities."

Meanwhile, a trilateral meeting is organized in Cairo on Sunday
with participation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli
Prime-Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman Abu Mazen (Mahmoud
Abbas). Representatives of Hamas are not invited to the meeting
in Cairo.

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