TURKISH PM GREETED BY CHEERS AFTER ISRAEL DEBATE CLASH
by Robert Tait

The Guardian
January 30, 2009
UK

Recep Tayyip Erdogan argued with Israeli president over Gaza offensive,
before storming out

Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, arrived home to a
tumultuous reception of cheering crowds early today after storming
out of a debate in Davos over Israel’s recent offensive in Gaza.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seen during a session
at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday,
Jan. 29, 2009.

(AP Photo/Michel Euler)Hours after clashing with the Israeli president,
Shimon Peres, in angry scenes at the normally sedate world economic
forum, he was welcomed at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport by thousands of
supporters waving Turkish and Palestinian flags and chanting "Turkey
is proud of you".

Sympathisers also left bouquets of flowers at his official residence.

The outpouring of support displayed the domestic political capital
Erdogan gained from his performance at the Swiss resort, where he
told Peres: "When it comes to killing, you know very well how to
kill." He then walked off the stage, declaring that he would never
return to Davos, after claiming he had not been allowed to speak by
the debate moderator, the Washington Post columnist David Ignatius.

Erdogan also accused Peres of raising his voice and claimed the Israeli
statesman had been allowed more speaking time than himself and the
panel discussion’s two other participants, the UN secretary general
Ban Ki-moon, and Amr Moussa, secretary general of the Arab League.

Peres had earlier made an impassioned defence of Israeli actions
in Gaza, asking Erdogan: "What would you do if you were to have
in Istanbul every night a hundred rockets?" Erdogan responded by
saying: "President Peres, you are older than me and your voice is very
loud. The reason for you raising your voice is the psychology of guilt
… I know very well how you hit and killed children on the beaches."

The prime minister’s wife, Emine – who this month organised a Women
For Peace In Palestine lunch for the wives of Islamic dignitaries –
also became involved, bursting into tears after telling reporters that
"everything Peres said was a lie".

Erdogan’s outburst was his most high-profile in a series of outspoken
attacks on Israel’s Gaza operations. He had previously called the
offensive – in which around 1,300 Palestinians died – a "crime against
humanity" and demanded Israel’s expulsion from the UN.

His stance has shocked Israeli officials – used to considering Turkey
as their closest regional ally – but played to the pro-Palestinian
sentiments of the overwhelmingly Muslim Turkish public. Mass
demonstrations in favour of Hamas have been staged in Istanbul and
other cities.

Such sympathies have prompted suggestions that Erdogan’s rhetoric has
been mainly for domestic political consumption and aimed at wooing
voters at forthcoming municipal elections in March. Jewish groups have
also voiced fears that the government’s fierce anti-Israeli criticism
is fuelling antisemitism The row with Peres overshadowed a dispute
between the government and the International Montetary Fund that
had seen Erdgoan accuse the fund of setting unacceptable conditions,
after negotiations were suspended over a proposed loan to help Turkey
weather the economic recession.

On arriving at Ataturk airport, he depicted his Davos walk-out in
nationalist terms, telling journalists: "This was a matter of the
esteem and prestige of my country. I could not have allowed anyone
to poison the prestige and in particular the honour of my country."

He also denied his comments were aimed at the Israeli people or Jews in
general. A world economic forum spokesman said Peres spoke with Erdogan
on the phone after the debate and expressed his respect for Turkey.

However, some observers believe Erdogan has sacrificed Turkish foreign
policy, especially Turkey’s self-appointed role as a regional mediator.

Before the Gaza hostilities Turkey had been mediating in negotiations
between Israel and Syria. There are also fears that the pro-Israel
lobby in the US will back moves to recognise the massacres of Armenians
by Ottoman forces in the first world war as genocide, a move Turkey
vehemently opposes.