DIPLOMATIC SCANDAL BREAKS OUT BETWEEN TURKEY AND ISRAEL

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.01.2010 20:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish-Israeli relations have been strained since
Israel’s deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip, having seen exchanges
of harsh remarks between Israeli and Turkish officials and crisis
incidents despite efforts to tone town the crisis atmosphere.

Nonetheless, Monday and Tuesday’s diplomatic kerfuffle between the two
sides was an exception, since the way Celikkol was treated by Israeli
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon introduced an unprecedented
example of diplomatic rudeness.

Chronologically, the incident started when Ayalon summoned Celikkol
to the Knesset on Monday afternoon to express outrage over an episode
of the popular Turkish television series, "Valley of the Wolves:
Ambush," which depicted Israeli intelligence service Mossad agents
spying inside Turkey and kidnapping Turkish babies. At the beginning
of the meeting, Ayalon was seen telling the cameramen to film him
and his aide sitting on tall chairs, and Celikkol on a lower chair,
with the Israeli flag in the middle.

The ambassador was also filmed waiting in a corridor for the meeting
to begin, and when it did, he was offered nothing to drink or eat.

In Ankara, during the same hours on Monday afternoon, at a joint press
conference with visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at Israel for violating
Lebanon’s airspace and using disproportionate force against
Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel’s response came shortly afterwards, with officials slamming
Erdogan’s "unbridled attack" and accusing him of seeking to harm ties.

"Israel reserves the right to protect its citizens against rocket
attacks and terrorism by Hamas and Hizbullah. Turkey is the last
country that should preach morality to Israel and to the Israel Defense
Forces," a statement by Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yossi
Levy said.

At the end of the tense Knesset meeting, pictures taken during the
meeting between Ayalon and Celikkol — ostensibly showing the latter
purposefully embarrassed — marked the end of the longest two days
between Israel and Turkey.

Israel’s Ambassador to Turkey Gabby Levy was summoned to the Foreign
Ministry on Tuesday morning and ordered to explain both the way
Celikkol was treated and Yossi Levy’s statement, which explicitly
blamed Turkey for being "immoral."

Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, who was
formerly Turkey’s ambassador to Israel, told Ambassador Levy that
the treatment of Celikkol was an "unacceptable impudence," and that
"everybody should know their place."

Turkish diplomatic sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told
Today’s Zaman that the ministry is considering recalling Celikkol to
Ankara for consultations.

Turkey rejected an Israeli attempt Wednesday to make amends for
humiliating its ambassador, and threatened to bring its envoy home
if Israel didn’t deliver an apology by the evening.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon issued a statement criticizing
his own undiplomatic behavior, which included forcing Turkish
Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol to sit on a lower seat and not shaking
his hand. But the statement fell short of an apology and failed to
defuse a diplomatic feud that has further strained ties between the
once-close allies.

"They have been given time until tonight, they either fix it or
our ambassador will head for Turkey on the first flight tomorrow"
for consultations, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said. "After that,
we will make an evaluation."