Al-Jazeera TV, Qatar
Jan 29 2009

Al-Jazeera speculates on possible Israeli "revenge" on Turkey for
Davos walkout

Qatari government-funded, pan-Arab news channel Al-Jazeera satellite
TV in Arabic leads its 1900 gmt newscast on 29 January with the
following announce-read report over video: "Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyib Erdogan has left one of the seminars of the World
Economic Forum [WEF] which is currently held in Switzerland to protest
not giving him enough time to comment on a long statement by Israeli
President Shimon Peres on the Israeli offensive on Gaza. Erdogan left
the stage angrily." Video shows Erdogan leaving a debate at the World
Economic Forum in Davos.

Within its 2000 gmt, the channel carries a repeat of the report,
followed by a two-minute live dispatch by Al-Jazeera bureau head in
Ankara Yusuf al-Sharif. Asked about the possible effect of what the
Turkish prime minister did on Israeli-Turkish relations, Al-Sharif
says: "Everybody here is concerned with a real and major crisis in the
relations between Turkey and Israel. Peres in this forum spoke loudly
for over 25 minutes, addressing Erdogan more than once. Erdogan tried
to reply to him, and he did reply to him using a strongly-worded
language, saying: "The Israelis know best what killing means. You know
what killing means. We remember how you killed Gaza children on the
beach without them being to blame for anything."

On the Turkish reactions to this incident, Al-Sharif says that "all
Turkish media outlets interrupted their programming" to report on what
happened, noting that "a popular majority supports Erdogan" but the
Turkish media is divided on this. He explains that "some believe that
what Erdogan did could threaten the Turkish-Israeli ties and that
Israel will definitely take revenge on Erdogan and Turkey by
mobilizing the Jewish lobby in the United States" to pressure the new
US President to issuing a decision recognizing that Turkey is
responsible for the Armenian genocide, thus the Turkish foreign policy
will be at stake." Al-Sharif adds that other media outlets support
Erdogan because many of them believe that "Peres addressed him
improperly and Erdogan could not remain silent about what he heard."
He goes on to say that "the Turkish opposition sees that Erdogan has
become the official spokesman for Hamas" and that his future has
become "contingent on the future of Hamas" because he stressed the
need to engage Hamas in dialogue about cease-fire in Gaza.

At 2010 gmt, the channel interviews Layth Shubaylat, head of the
Anti-Zionism and Anti-Racism Association, from Amman, to comment on
the "political significance" of this incident. Shubaylat says that the
"Arab world is absent" in Davos because the Arab League secretary
general, who "represents all Arab countries, and not those normalizing
relations with Israel," was sitting with Peres. He wonders: "Why did
he not decide to leave the seminar and support Erdogan who defended
Arabs and humanity. Have Erdogan, Hugo Chavez, and the Bolivian
president become the leaders of Arabs? Shame on Arab leaders!" He goes
on to say: "It is clear that Erdogan, his party, and Turkey are
adopting free positions that are independent from the modern Turkish
legacy."

[translated from Arabic]