TEL AVIV MAY END ISRAELI SUPPORT FOR TURKEY’S GENOCIDE DENIAL POLICY

News.am
13:10 / 10/15/2009

The decision canceling Israel’s participation in Turkish and NATO
was an expression of the Turkish people’s will, Turkish Premier
Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated in his interview with the Al Jazeera TV
channel. According to him, the Turkish Government took the public
opinion into account. The Government discussed the problem and
decided against Israel’s participation in the air force maneuvers,
Erdogan said. He pointed out the necessity for considering all the
diplomatic delicacies of the problem.

In his recent interview with CNN, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu stated that the reason for the decision is the situation
in the Gaza Strip. According to him, the maneuvers were canceled
because the United State and Italy decided to. It was, however, after
Turkey refused to receive the Israeli pilots that dropped bombs on
Gaza civilians.

Some in Israel voice fears that Turkey’s ruling party has managed to
overcome the army’s opposition, and the traditional Israeli-Turkish
cooperation is coming to its end.

Moreover, some hold the opinion that Turkey is ready for forming an
alliance with Iran, and the recent agreement with Armenia may be
evidence thereof. Turkey is also consolidating its relations with
the Syrian regime, and the new axis, Ankara-Damask-Teheran, may pose
a special threat to Israel.

The Turkish authorities, however, do not seem to be concerned over
the facts. The Turkish television demonstrated a video record with
an Israeli man killing a child. A serial showing Israeli servicemen
as bloodthirsty child-killers proved to be the last straw for
Israel. In this connection, Avigdor Lieberman, Israeli Foreign
Minister has summoned the Turkish Ambassador to Israel. According
to him, demonstrations like that stir up hatred for Israel. The
Israel-based Zman.com points out that Turkey’s overtly anti-Semitic
demarche may block her way to the European Union. The former Israeli
Consul to Turkey Moti ization in Turkey since Erdogan came to power
there. Referring to a source at the Israeli foreign Office, the Israeli
Government has arrived at the inevitable conclusion that, against the
present changes in Turkey, it can no longer act as mediator between
Israel and Syria.

The new tendencies in Ankara’s foreign policy are being highlighted
by IzRus. Against the growing tension in the relations with Turkey,
the Israeli leaders are closely watching Ankara’s policy both in the
Caucasus and in the Near East, being skeptic about its chances to
reap dividends from Armenian-Turkish rapprochement. Analysts think
Turkey made this step for the primary purpose of improving its image
and chances to join the European Union.

It is noteworthy that, in one of its articles The Jerusalem Post
daily (Israel) reported that, in regards to the exercises dispute,
Israeli officials said 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.