PRIME MINISTER TO OLMERT: TURKEY NOT JUST ANY COUNTRY

Today’s Zaman
Feb 19 2009
Turkey

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday responded to his
Israeli counterpart, Ehud Olmert, in an ongoing row over Israel’s
22-day offensive against Gaza last month and said he questioned the
Israeli leader’s trustworthiness.

Erdogan has severely criticized Israel over its assault on Gaza, which
ultimately left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead. He has said Israel
should be barred from the UN and told Israeli President Shimon Peres,
"When it comes to killing people, you know very well how to do it,"
before walking out on a Davos panel late last month. Observers said he
was particularly annoyed because the operation began only days after
he had met with Olmert in Ankara for lengthy talks to discuss formulas
to advance Turkish-mediated Syrian-Israeli peace talks. Erdogan has
said on several occasions that the operation came just as he was
expecting a reply from Olmert on a Turkish proposal for a prisoner
exchange between Hamas and Israel.

In a speech delivered on Sunday, Olmert said he had not told Erdogan
about the Gaza operation both because he did not yet know that he was
to order an offensive a few days later and because he should not be
expected to inform any prime minister about Israel’s military plans.

"You are not talking to just any country," Erdogan said at a press
conference with his Croatian counterpart, Ivo Sanader. "You want
this country’s mediation. You come here for talks on negotiations
with Syria," he went on. "You are talking to a country that has ties
with many regional actors."

Erdogan also said Olmert’s explanation created questions about his
credibility: "You first say you did not know about the operation and
then you say you are not supposed to let other leaders know. Is it
possible to say this statement is credible? Such statements create
problems of trust for the future," he said.

"The reason I didn’t tell him was twofold," Olmert said on Monday. "One
is that on Monday I didn’t know that we would attack on Saturday. How
could I know? On Tuesday, Wednesday, they were shooting 50, 70 rockets
and missiles a day against all our cities in the South and we just
decided that enough is enough and we have to respond. But I also said,
quite frankly, I didn’t call the president of the United States, my
good friend, George W. Bush, at that time, and say to him, I’m going
to attack Gaza. I didn’t call my good friend Gordon Brown or Nicolas
Sarkozy or Angela Merkel. Why should I say to any prime minister
what the military plans of the State of Israel are for defending its
citizens? I don’t think that it was the right thing to do," he argued.

Olmert also said Israel had good relations with Turkey and hoped to
continue these relations. "We hope that the prime minister of Turkey
will understand that there are certain constraints sometimes which
forbid leaders of some nations from sharing the most sensitive secrets
when there are secrets," he added.

Erdogan also said peace negotiations between Hamas and Israel were
deadlocked because Hamas rejects any link between the release of an
Israeli soldier it captured and a ceasefire with Israel. Israel says it
will not lift its ongoing blockade against Gaza, the reason why Hamas
says it fires rockets at Israel, until Hamas releases Gilad Shalit,
who was captured in a cross-border raid in 2006. Erdogan said Turkey
was ready to engage in peace efforts but only provided that it was
asked to do so.

Erdogan also rejected reports in Azerbaijani media that Turkey has
revised its policy on not normalizing relations with neighboring
Armenia unless it ends its occupation of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh
region.

No change in Karabakh policy

"There is no difference between our position and Azerbaijan’s
position on Nagorno-Karabakh," Erdogan said in response to
a question. "Azerbaijan’s righteousness is established by UN
resolutions."

Erdogan also said he may meet US President Barack Obama in April, on
the occasion of a summit of G-20 countries. Obama phoned Erdogan on
Monday and Erdogan said they discussed a number of issues, including
the Armenian diaspora’s efforts to win US recognition for Armenian
claims of genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in World War I.