Agence France Presse, France
Feb 14 2009

Israeli army disowns general’s Turkey attack
16 minutes ago

ANKARA (AFP) ‘ The Israeli military on Saturday disassociated itself
from remarks critical of Turkey made by one of its generals after
Ankara described them as unacceptable and demanded an urgent
clarification.

The remarks by Major General Avi Mizrahi, commander of the Israeli
army headquarters, followed a row sparked by Israel’s offensive in
Gaza last month and contained "unacceptable claims and nonsense
targeting our prime minister and our country," the foreign ministry
said.

The Israeli ambassador to Turkey was summoned to the foreign ministry
on Saturday and handed a note of protest, the statement said, adding
that "the Israeli authorities were asked for an urgent clarification."

In Jerusalem, the Israeli army later issued a statement saying
Mizrahi’s remarks were not representative of its views.

"General Mizrahi said some things that might be construed as critical
of Turkey. The army spokesman wishes to clarify that this is not the
official position of the army."

On Friday, the Turkish media quoted Mizrahi as saying Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who vehemently criticised Israel’s
action in the Gaza Strip, "should first look in the mirror" and spoke
about Ottoman massacres of Armenians during World War I and the
Kurdish conflict in Turkey.

The Turkish military also denounced Mizrahi’s remarks, saying they
"distort the realities and are excessive, unfortunate and
unacceptable."

Such comments "can harm national interests in relations between the
two countries," the statement said.

"We expect the Israeli general staff, which we believe places
importance on relations with the Turkish armed forces, to clarify the
issue," it added.

The Gaza conflict has strained relations between Israel and Turkey, a
predominantly Muslim non-Arab nation which has been the Jewish state’s
main regional ally since the two signed a military cooperation accord
in 1996.

On January 29, Erdogan stormed out from a heated debate on the Gaza
war at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland after clashing
with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Before walking off, he said Israel committed "barbarian" acts in Gaza,
told Peres that "you know well how to kill people" and lashed out at
the audience for applauding the Israeli president’s emotional defence
of the war.

Mizrahi’s remarks reportedly came at an international conference in
Israel on Tuesday in comments on Erdogan’s outburst, after which
Israel had sought to defuse tensions, saying that relations would
recover in time.

Israel’s 22-day offensive on Islamist Hamas-controlled Gaza left more
than 1,300 Palestinians dead and injured 5,300 others.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress