ERDOGAN SAYS DECISION TO BAR ISRAEL WAS PEOPLE’S WILL

Today’s Zaman
15 October 2009, Thursday

The government was listening to the public when it decided to exclude
Israel from an international military exercise, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying yesterday, days after the Foreign
Ministry denied the decision was politically motivated

Erdogan told al-Arabiya television that his government acted as a
"spokesman for the conscience of the people" and that the Turkish
people did not want Israel to participate in the exercise, the Anatolia
news agency reported.

Israel has extensive defense ties with Turkey, a NATO member and one of
the few Muslim nations to have built an alliance with the Jewish state.

Yet tension prevails in the ties between Israel and Turkey,
particularly since Ankara’s harsh criticism of Israel’s
three-week offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in December and
January. Erdogan reiterated in the al-Arabiya interview that Israel
killed 1,500 people, mostly women and children, in Gaza and destroyed
schools and hospitals.

Turkey and Israel both denied on Monday that the cancellation of air
force exercises scheduled for this week posed any threat to their
long-standing bilateral ties and strategic interests. The Turkish
Foreign Ministry, in a statement on Monday, ruled out comments made
by certain Israeli officials who suggested that political motives were
behind changing the exercise, urging Israel to display "common sense"
in their statements.

Meanwhile, Syria, a regional rival of Israel, has said it will hold
military exercises with Turkey. "We held our first joint land military
exercise [with Turkey] last spring. And today we have agreed to do a
more comprehensive, bigger one," Syrian Defense Minister Ali Habib,
speaking at a news conference held in the border city of Gaziantep
on Tuesday evening at which Syrian and Turkish ministers responded
to questions following the first ministerial-level meeting of the
High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, recentl Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu (R) and his Syrian counterpart, Walid Muallem, shake
hands after signing an agreement at the border of the two countries
on Tuesday.

In the Syrian border city of Aleppo, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid
al-Moallem commended Ankara for canceling of the exercises, speaking
at the same meeting as Habib.

"We warmly welcome the decision. This decision is based on Turkey’s
approach towards Israel and reflects the way Turkey regards the Israeli
attack on Gaza," Moallem told reporters in Aleppo, where the first
part of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting was held.

In Washington, the US State Department gently criticized Turkey on
Tuesday over the exercise controversy, with Assistant Secretary of
State for Public Affairs Philip J. Crowley telling reporters that "as
to the question of whether there was a government that was invited
to participate and then removed at the last minute, we think it’s
inappropriate for any nation to be removed from an exercise like this
at the last minute."

He was asked whether that was what happened and if Israel was the
spurned country. He confirmed that it was correct. Also on Tuesday,
in Israel, Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom urged Turkey "to come
to its senses" in comments over the issue. "Turkey is an important
Muslim state sharing strategic ties with Israel. I hope the Turks
come to their senses and realize that the relationship between the
two states is in their interest no less than ours. The deterioration
of ties with Turkey in recent days is regrettable," he said.

Davutoglu defies pressure by Israeli lobby

In Gaziantep, Davutoglu was asked by a Syrian reporter whether he
is worried about any probable counter-attacks by Israeli lobbies in
the international arena following the recent uneasiness between the
two countries.

"Turkey’s foreign policy has always been based on principles. When
there have been bad policies, as in the Gaza incidents, we have shown
our position. Turkey has never interfered in any other count utoglu
said first of all, underlining that Turkey has consistently favored
regional cooperation and stability.

"I’m telling this to you as the foreign minister of the Turkish
Republic. There is nothing over which the Turkish Republic should feel
worried. We are ready for dialogue with everybody on every issue,"
he said.

The Syrian reporter’s question was an apparent reference to remarks
by Israeli defense officials cited by the Israeli daily The Jerusalem
Post. In regards to the exercises dispute, those officials told the
daily they would end Israeli support for Turkey in its efforts to
stop the US Congress voting to declare the killings of Anatolian
Armenians by the Ottoman Turks genocide.