BABACAN: LEADERS PRIVATELY BACKED ERDOGAN’S DAVOS OUTBURST
Today’s Zaman
March 20 2009
Turkey
Leaders of many world countries who avoided open criticism of Israel
for its deadly operation in Gaza in January have privately expressed
support for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his
walkout at a Davos panel discussion in protest of the Israeli attacks,
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said yesterday.
Erdogan walked out of the Davos discussion in late January after
an angry exchange with Israeli President Shimon Peres, protesting
the moderator for insistently trying to cut off his response to
Peres. "When it comes to killing people, you know well how to do it,"
he told Peres before walking out, promising never to return to Davos.
Erdogan was given a hero’s welcome on his return to Turkey, but a small
group of critics said he hurt Turkey’s image by breaking diplomatic
rules of courtesy and said he ruined ties with Israel. But despite
initial tension, relations with Israel were soon back on track.
"Some countries may opt to remain silent. When it’s about Israel,
different internal dynamics play out in many countries. But leaders
of many countries have come to us to whisper, ‘We cannot say much,
it is good that you did’," Babacan said in an interview on private
Kanal 7 television. "We have close relations with Israel, but this
does not mean we have to turn a blind eye when a mistake is made."
He underlined, however, that Turkey attached much importance to
contacts with Israel and that problems could only be resolved through
dialogue.
‘Genocide’resolution and Obama visit
Commenting on relations with the United States after American lawmakers
introduced a resolution calling for the president to accept Armenian
claims of genocide, Babacan reiterated that he hoped the US Congress
will act sensibly because passage of the resolution could harm ongoing
efforts between Turkey and Armenia to normalize relations after a
15-year hiatus.
"A step to be taken by a third country would harm the process. We
hope no irrational step will be taken. We have been talking frankly
about this to our American friends," Babacan said.
Analysts say passage of the resolution was unlikely at a time when
Turkey and Armenia are actively engaged in efforts to normalize
their ties and when the Obama administration plans to win Ankara’s
support in a number of key foreign policy goals in the Middle East
and Afghanistan. In his second visit to a foreign country since taking
office, the first being his traditional visit to neighboring Canada,
President Barack Obama will travel to Turkey, most probably on April
6. Iran’s nuclear program, the use of Turkey in a US troop pullout
from Iraq and Turkish contributions to efforts to beef up the Western
military presence in Afghanistan in order to deal with a growing
insurgency will be among the top issues to be discussed.
Babacan said it was still not clear whether Obama will also use Turkey
as venue to deliver a long-anticipated address to the Muslim world
or whether he will attend a UN-backed meeting of the Alliance of
Civilizations, which will be held around the same dates in Istanbul.
But in Madrid, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, whose
country jointly leads the Alliance of Civilizations initiative with
Turkey, suggested that Obama’s participation in the April 6-7 gathering
was definite. Responding to criticism from the opposition at the
Spanish parliament on Wednesday, Moratinos said Obama’s participation
was a response to those who try to downplay the significance of the
Alliance of Civilizations gathering.