TURKISH PM, ISRAELI PRESIDENT CLASH AT DAVOS PANEL

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.01.2009 13:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked
off the stage after an angry exchange with the Israeli president,
Shimon Peres, during a panel discussion on Gaza at the World Economic
Forum on Thursday, and vowed never to return to the annual gathering.

Erdogan apparently became incensed after he was prevented by the
moderator from responding to remarks by Peres on the recent Israeli
attack. The panel was running late and Peres was to have had the last
word, participants said.

Panel discussions at Davos are strictly restricted to one hour, but
Erdogan insisted on responding to Peres. Red faced, and with one hand
grasping the arm of the moderator, David Ignatius of the Washington
Post, Erdogan turned to the Israeli president.

"Peres, you are older than me," he said. "Your voice comes out in a
very high tone. And the high tone of your voice has to do with a guilty
conscience. My voice, however, will not come out in the same tone."

Resisting efforts by Ignatius to end the session, Erdogan continued,
saying to Peres, "When it comes to killing, you know well how to kill."

Eventually, the prime minister gathered up his papers and departed
from the stage, saying, "And so Davos is over for me from now on."

Peres pointed a finger at the departing Erdogan and told him that
Turkey would have reacted the same way had rockets been falling on
Istanbul, participants said. But the Israeli president called Erdogan
five minutes later to apologize for any misunderstanding, saying that
his words had not been directed at the prime minister personally

In a news conference immediately following the panel discussion,
Erdogan said that he was particularly upset with Ignatius, who he
said had failed to direct a balanced and impartial panel.

By all accounts, the discussion of the Gaza incursion was a lively
one, with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Amr Moussa, the secretary
general of the Arab League, joining Peres and Erdogan. For the most
part, participants said, Peres was alone in defending the Israeli
role in Gaza, which is why he was given the final 25 minutes to
speak. Earlier, Erdogan had spoken for 12 minutes about the sufferings
of the Palestinians, the IHT reports.