ISRAELI-TURKISH DIPLOMATIC CRISIS WORSEN
by David Harris
Xinhua
2009-10-14 05:50:10
JERUSALEM, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) — Ten months after Turkey first protested
Israel’s military operation in and around Palestinian Gaza Strip,
crisis between Ankara and the Israelis appears to be going from bad
to worse.
It became clear on Sunday that Turkey had banned Israel from
participating in a NATO-led, international air-force drill over its
territory, which led to the entire exercise being postponed.
A day later, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a
blistering verbal attack on Israel and its actions in Gaza last winter.
"While in some countries children are provided with comfort, peace,
the most advanced education and health opportunities, other children
are faced with poverty, destitution, helplessness, war, conflict,
weapons of mass destruction and phosphorus bombs," he told the Turkish
Religious Council, cited by media reports in Turkey and Israel.
It is hard to see the relations between the two countries coming out
of the continued tensions before Israelis return to the negotiation
table with the Palestinians, analysts suggested.
TURKEY’S WARMING TIES WITH SYRIA
The latest setback to what was a warm relationship six or seven
years ago, came at the same time as Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu was chairing a high-level delegation to Syria. Ankara and
Damascus are forging new pacts and agreements to increase cooperation
between the neighbors.
"The main slogan of this meeting is common destiny, history and future,
and we will build the future together," Turkish Anadolou news agency
quoted Davutoglu as saying.
In the past Turkey has tried to broker peace talks between Israel and
Syria, but that type of role seems a distant memory now, even though
the sides were indirectly talking through Turkish intermediaries just
a year ago.
"This crisis began with the operation in Gaza and the collapse of
(Israel’s) talks with Syria, and it has been ongoing s ambassador
to Ankara and one of the Israeli team that formulated the 1993 Oslo
Accords between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Relations in general had been on the up and up for some years,
although the Turkish coalition government headed by the Justice and
Development (AK) Party had taken a step or two away from Israel. If
this was acceptable to Israel, the Gaza operation completely changed
the relationship.
The first sign of just how the ties had deteriorated was a very
public incident in January. "You are killing people," Erdogan told
Israel’s President Shimon Peres as the two men addressed a session
of the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland.
Thousands of well-wishers arrived at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul
to welcome home Erdogan after his attack on Peres, making a clear
statement to the world about Turkish feelings regarding the Gaza issue.
VIEW FROM ANKARA
The current incident of the ban on Israel’s participation in the
military exercise "should not be over-exaggerated," said YusufKanli,
a columnist with the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.
It is simply a case that for domestic political reasons Ankara cannot
allow Israeli warplanes which bombed Gaza to fly over Turkey, he told
Xinhua on Tuesday.
Putting it down to internal interests does not mean that Turkey intends
minimizing its anger at Israeli actions. The Turkish feel very close
to the Palestinians and to see their suffering under Israel’s closure
is unacceptable, Kanli said.
Israel maintains that its operation in Gaza and its ongoing
stranglehold on the Palestinian coastal enclave is to protect its own
citizens who have endured thousands of rocket attacks in recent years.
However, the publication last month of the UN investigation mission’s
report into last winter’s events in Gaza and southern Israel suggested
that Israel may have been guilty of war crimes in its actions.
Turkey immediately expressed its support for the findings of the UN
mission led by Judge Richard Goldsto
"It was believed that the Israeli-Turkish relations will enter a
‘patch-up period’ after the ‘regrettable event’ at the ‘one-minute’
incident in Davos," Turkish journalist Cengiz Candar wrote in Huriyyet,
after Erdogan said he backed the Goldstone report when addressing
the opening of the 64th UN General Assembly in September.
But "it seems that Tayyip Erdogan is determined not to have the
‘one-minute event,’ which obtained a special prestige for him among
all the Islam and Arab world, forgotten," he added.
Candar is of the opinion that Erdogan’s anger at Israel during these
past 10 months was justified with the publication of the Goldstone
report.
SEEKING NEW HORIZONS
Turkey is not just enjoying an on-again, off-again relationship with
Israel, but also with the European Union and the United States. Ankara
is still finding its feet on the international stage to some extent
and as a result it is treading on some toes.
On the other hand, the agreement Turkey inked at the weekend with
Armenia has scored it valuable points as far as those who want to
see Turkey enter the European Union are concerned.
Further, Turkey’s attempts to improve ties with Central Asian countries
does not mean it cannot comfortably sit in Western circles, according
to Liel.
"Turkey is working various spheres these days, the Muslim, the
Caucuses, the Balkan, therefore, I believe Turkey has a new foreign
policy, but that does not mean that its relations with the West have
to be damaged. They are not mutually exclusive," said Liel.
In terms of renewing ties between Israel and Turkey, only one thing
will satisfy the Turks and that is Israel’s return to peace talks
with the Palestinians, he said.
Kanli offers a similar opinion though he is more Gaza focused. If
Israel wants a normalization of the ties, it must end its restrictions
on the people of Gaza, he said, repeating that the Turks see the
Palestinians as their brothers and sisters.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress