Report: Israel Warned Turkey of Attacks on Diplomats
by David Lev
8 maart 2012, Adar 14, 5772
A Turkish media report Wednesday said that Israel had warned Turkish authorities that Iran was organizing attacks on Israeli diplomats in that country. The warning was reportedly sent by the Mossad to Turkey's National Intelligence Agency (M?T) in a letter, which said that an Iranian group operating in Turkey was planning the attacks.
The report in Turkey's Hürriyet Daily News said that the Mossad warned Turkish security officials that at terrorists associated with a group called the “Iranian Revolutionary Guards-Quds Force” had entered the country. MIT did not confirm or deny the report, but Turkey's NTV said that four individuals “have entered Turkey from Iran” and had come equipped with weapons that could be used in an attack on Israeli diplomats.
On Wednesday, Indian security authorities arrested a local journalist whom they say was involved in planning the attack against Israeli diplomats n New Delhi last month. According to reports, the suspect, Mohammed Kazmi, worked for an Iranian media outlet. Police believe that Kazmi planned and carried out the attack along with two or three other individuals. Police said that Kazmi conducted surveillance of Israeli diplomats and institutions in India.
A report Thursday said that New Delhi police have found what they believe to be the the motorcycle used by the shooter who opened fire on Israeli diplomats in the mid-February attack. One Israeli, Tal Keren-Yehoshua, the wife of a senior Israeli official in India, was seriously injured in the attack.
Erdogan to Haniyeh: Hamas Must Be Part of Negotiations
2 januari 2012, Tevet 7, 5772
by Elad Benari
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met on Sunday with Hamas’ Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, in his residence in Istanbul.
The visit was part of Haniyeh’s first official regional tour since Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007. The tour has already included stops in Egypt and Sudan.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151101#.TwHY5NWvkVo
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151121#.TwJRcdWvkVo
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151264#.TwJSFNWvkVp
According to reports from sources in the Palestinian Authority who were quoted by Channel 10 News, the two leaders discussed during the meeting the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas and plans for rehabilitation of Gaza.
One source was quoted by Channel 10 as having said that Erdogan told Haniyeh during the meeting said that ending the conflict with the “occupation” will not be possible without Hamas’ participation in the negotiations.
Erdogan’s comments came following reports earlier on Sunday that Jordan would be mediating talks between Israel and the PA. The reports, which were later confirmed, said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s envoy, attorney Yitzhak Molho, will head to Amman on Tuesday where he will meet PA negotiator Saeb Erekat and representatives of the Quartet.
Jordan and the PA have made it clear that the meeting is not a renewal of peace negotiations, but rather would be a discussion to clarify the attitudes of both sides regarding a possible resumption of direct negotiations.
According to the PA sources, Erdogan and Haniyeh also discussed “the vicious attack against Jerusalem and the ‘Judaization’ of the city.”
The comments come after last week during his visit to Egypt, Haniyeh called on Arab leaders to stop the 'Judaization' of Jerusalem.
Israel Offers Aid to Turkey in Wake of Earthquake
The Israel Project
23 oktober 2011, Tisjrie 25, 5772
The IDF also played a mayor role in the recent recovery efforts in Haiti in 2010. (IDF)
Jerusalem, Oct. 23 – Within moments of the devastating earthquake that rocked Eastern Turkey on Sunday, the Israeli government offered aid to Ankara.
“At the instruction of Israel’s foreign minister, the Foreign Ministry sent a message to the Turkish authorities offering humanitarian aid…Israel’s embassy in Ankara has already approached the Turkish authorities with the offer,” read a statement from the ministry.
The last time a major quake hit Turkey in 1999, Israel sent a rescue team to the affected area and set up a field hospital. The Israelis helped in search and rescue efforts. The Israeli team included Jewish and Arab experts in the field.
Israeli President Shimon Peres called his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul to repeat the offer of aid and to send condolences on behalf of the Israeli people for the loss of life.
"The state of Israel joins in your sorrow...I am speaking as a human being, a Jew and an Israeli who remembers and is well aware of the depth of the historic ties between our two peoples," said Peres.
Gul told Peres that Ankara is in the process of estimating the damage and remains hopeful that the Turkish rescue services will be able to cope with the challenge alone.
The deck of a Turkish warship
18 september 2011, Ellul 19, 5771
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZbzflD5lwI&feature=uploademail
Song to the Turkish dumbbell
12 september 2011, Elul 13, 5771
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMVzjz_0PAM&feature=uploademail
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b1QpcNOIw0&feature=relmfu
Aanvulling:
Turkije ontmaskerd
http://brabosh.com/2011/09/12/pqpct-dgn/
“De Turkse premier Erdogan komt zogenaamd op voor het Gazaanse volk, hypocrieter kan haast niet meer. De Turkse natie heeft een eeuwenoude geschiedenis van bezetting, onderdrukking en genocide van dozijnen volkeren en naties.
Turkije hield ook Israël [en dus ook de Gazastrook] voor 400 jaar lang bezet, van 1517 af tot in 1917. Het zijn de Britten, onder het bevel van Generaal Edmund Allenby die tijdens de Slag van Megiddo [de tegenwoordige naam van het Bijbelse Armageddon] eind september 1918 het Ottomaanse/Turkse Leger zullen verslaan. Die Ottomaanse strijdmacht stond onder het mede-commando van Mustafa Kemal Pasha – later bekend als Atatürk, de stichter van de moderne staat Turkije. Na die vernietigende slag in Megiddo zullen de Britten op de veroverde gronden in 1922 het Britse Mandaat Palestina oprichten, de facto historisch Joodse gronden, en het land van Israël 30 jaar lang bezet houden.
Het land weigert de massamoord op het Armeense volk van 1915 te erkennen en houdt het grootste deel van het voormalige land Armenië tot op vandaag bezet net zoals het ook grote delen van Georgië (Lazistan, in 1578 veroverd door de Turken) heeft afgenomen en bezet houdt. Daarnaast organiseert het land systematisch klopjachten op de Koerden die door Ankara als 3de rangsburgers worden behandeld en een eigen land – Koerdistan – ontzegd worden.
Het is Turkije dan ook helemaal niet te doen om de Gazanen te helpen, of Gaza te ‘bevrijden’ van de Zionistische bezetter. Premier Erdogan geeft geen moer om de Palestijnen. Dat volk kan wat hem betreft hem gestolen worden. Het is Erdogan in werkelijkheid enkel om Israël, om de Joden, te doen. Dat land wil hij eerst vernietigen en de Joden in zee drijven. Dan kan de antisemitische droom van die nep-Ottomaan van een nieuw sterk Turks islamitisch imperium in het Midden-Oosten weer werkelijkheid worden. Maar eerst de Joden uitroeien. Die sta-in-de-weg moet eruit, en de Turken binnen.”
Turkish Mavi Marmara Delegation in Iran: 'We Are Here Today With the Longing and the Determination to Build a Middle East Without Israel and America'
February 20, 2011 Special Dispatch No.3603
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5024.htm
Latma.tv: Verontschuldigingen Israel aan Turkeije?
February 20, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/user/LatmaTV#p/u/5/1bfY_OUGmpc
PM: No Apologies to Turkey, Interim Deal with PA Possible
by Chana Ya'ar
27 december 2010, Tevet 20, 5771
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reiterated Monday evening that Israel will not apologize to Turkey over the Mavi Marmara incident in which nine armed terror activists were killed after they attacked IDF commandos.
“We do not want to apologize to Turkey – but we are ready to express sorrow, as we have expressed, over the loss of life,” he said.
“But first, we want to protect our soldiers,” he added. “We demand that Turkey recognize that Israel did not act maliciously and that our soldiers acted in self-defense.”
The prime minister made the comments Monday in an interview on Israel's
Channel 10 television. He added that Israel also expects Turkey to dissolve all international legal proceedings against the Jewish State in connection with the incident.
The eight Turkish nationals and U.S. citizen who were killed were all members of the Turkish terror-linked IHH organization that had sponsored the Mavi Marmara. The ship was part of an attempt by a six-vessel flotilla to break Israel's blockade of Gaza.
The ships ignored repeated requests by Israeli naval personnel to change course for Ashdod port. When IDF commandos boarded the vessels, the IHH members on the Mavi Marmara stabbed them with knives and beat them with metal rods and clubs. The five other vessels were brought to port without incident.
Turkey has continued to insist that Israel apologize for the May 31 incident and compensate the families of the slain attackers – a demand that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has referred to as “chutzpah.” Lieberman also accused Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of lying after Davutoglu implied that Israel might delay sending assistance if Turkey were to suffer a humanitarian disaster.
Netanyahu's office responded within hours, striving to contain the diplomatic damage by saying Lieberman's remarks constitute his own “personal assessments and positions.”
Monday night's remarks were a rehash of that effort, with the prime minister continuing to insist his foreign minister's remarks did not represent the government's view as Netanyahu strove to appear imperturbable.
“The foreign minister is not humiliating me,” he said. “He is expressing his views. Under Israel's system of government, ministers always express their views. We have a coalition, and we have different views.
“In this case we have Foreign Minister Lieberman, Defense Minister Barak, Interior Minister Eli Yishai and HaBayit HaYehudi – [and] they all have different views,” he said.
The bottom line, Netanyahu added, still ends at his own desk.
“The final opinion is that decided upon by the government and that which is expressed by the prime minister,” he said pointedly. “That's how it has been in all the governments.”
Interim Agreement with PA More Likely
Netanyahu also addressed the issue of whether to pursue the rapidly fading dream of a final status agreement with the Palestinian Authority, saying an interim agreement appeared more likely at this point.
Until recently, Netanyahu had been willing to go along with U.S. efforts to secure a final status agreement with a short period of a few months at most. But that prospect seems increasingly unlikely as the PA continues its campaign for recognition of unilateral statehood from nations around the world.
Netanyahu appears to have become resigned to the fact that an assessment expressed recently by Lieberman – that an interim agreement is the only reasonable option left – is the most accurate.
“I set out a clear policy in the Bar Ilan speech,” he noted. “There I said that if the Palestinians recognize the Jewish State and give up the right of Palestinian refugees to return... I mean, if they recognize a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish State, I announce here and now that I will see it through to the end.”
However, he said, at the end of the day, the process may end up leading to an interim agreement, rather than a final status deal.
“This may be where the diplomatic process leads us,” he said. An interim agreement is the only option left, he said, if the two sides fail to reach an understanding on Jerusalem and the “right of return” for millions of foreign Arabs claiming residency in pre-1948 Israel.
Abbas in Turkey for Meetings
by David Lev and Hillel Fendel
December 7, 2010, Kislev 30, 5771
Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Turkey Sunday for an official visit. During the visit, Abbas was to meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul. The visit will extend through Tuesday, when Abbas will fly to Greece for meetings with leaders there.
According to a PA statement, Abbas was to update the Turkish leaders on recent developments in the stalled negotiations with Israel. The PA dropped out of U.S. sponsored talks at the end of September, demanding that Israel impose another building freeze on Judea and Samaria – a move that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said he would be willing to undertake, if Israel receives specific guarantees from Washington. Most of Netanyahu's coalition is against an additional freeze.
In the meantime, Abbas says he will not return to negotiations. On Thursday, a PA official said Washington had officially informed the PA that attempts to secure a new Israeli settlement freeze had failed. US officials have refused to confirm or deny the report, the Maan news agency reported.
A statement by Gul's office said that he and Abbas would "discuss and consult on ... bilateral ties, the latest situation in Palestine and regional developments, primarily the Middle East peace process."
Earlier on Sunday, Abbas was in Jordan, meeting with King Abdullah II. The PA leader said that he and the king agreed to continue cooperation and coordination "in light of an expected US position in the coming few days, and we should examine it together." He did not explain what type of US position was expected.
Besides an additional freeze, the PA has not backed down on any of its other demands, such as Israel's surrender of liberated parts of Jerusalem, an Israeli withdrawal to the 1948 armistice lines, and the resettlement in Israel of descendants of refugees who fled in the wake of the 1948 War of Independence. He is not willing to recognize Israel as the Jewish state. In the past, Turkey has expressed full support for the PA's positions.
13 september 2010
Turken stemmen voor wijziging van de grondwet
http://www.zie.nl/video/algemeen/Turken-stemmen-voor-wijziging-grondwet/m1azso1frca1
Al Qaeda to Turkey: Break Ties with Israel, Stop Killing Muslims
by Chana Ya'ar
August 15, 2010, Elul 5, 5770
The international Al-Qaeda terrorist organization slammed the Turkish government Sunday for cooperating with the Israel Defense Forces and killing Muslims in Afghanistan. Turkey is a member of NATO, which has sent forces to the area.
“The Turkish government issues statements against Israel, but at the same time commits the same Jewish crimes but against the Muslim mujahedeen in Afghanistan, burning their houses, demolishing their villages and even assuming the leadership of the NATO there,” said Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaeda second-in-command.
Al-Zawahiri urged Turks in a 20-minute audio message posted on a Muslim extremist website to force their government to break ties with the Jewish State and stop killing Muslims. He also offered his condolences on the deaths of nine Turkish terrorists who clashed with Israeli Navy commandos in May.
The message was intended to reach Muslims outside the Arab world, generally the group's traditional circle of influence.
The Egyptian-born 59-year-old deputy to Osama Bin Laden accused the Turkish government of betraying Palestinian Authority Arabs by showing sympathy through humanitarian aid shipments on one hand, yet cooperating with the IDF on the other, according to the Associated Press, which obtained a translation of the audio tape.
“The Turkish government shows sympathy with the Palestinians through statements or sending some relief aid, but actually it recognizes Israel, engages in trade, carries out military training and shares information with it,” Al-Zawahiri charged.
He also expressed deep regret for the deaths of the nine armed IHH terror activists who attacked Israeli Navy commandos when they boarded a Turkish vessel sent to break Israel's maritime blockade of Gaza. The flotilla clash occurred May 31 on the Mavi Marmara, one of six vessels that purported to bring humanitarian aid to the Hamas terrorist-controlled region. The Mavi Marmara was subsequently found to be carrying no aid at all.
Al-Zawahiri added in his audio message that he blames the United States, Israel and “treacherous Muslim governments” for the “siege” of Gaza.
The Al-Qaeda leader is allegedly a qualified surgeon and was the second and last “emir” of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization, before formally merging the group into Al-Qaeda in 1998.
Turkey Cozies Up to Hizbullah with Iran
by Chana Ya'ar
August13, 2010, Elul 3, 5770
Turkey has offered to join Iran in sending weapons to Hizbullah in Lebanon, with help from Syria, according to a report published in an Italian newspaper.
The daily Corriere Della Sera quoted sources Wednesday evening who said that Turkey will “send sophisticated weapons, rockets and guns to Syria that will end up in Lebanon.”
The sources went on to say that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards would “facilitate the transition, ensure safety, watch loads on the routes, and provide support to the border.” According to the report, Iran intends to build a network that will supply the Gaza-based Hamas terrorist organization with weapons as well, similar to the weapons network that operates in the Sudan.
The newspaper also reported that Turkish and Iranian intelligence heads Hakan Fidan and Hossein Taeb allegedly met to discuss logistics and relations between the two nations.
Israeli Premonition?
Nearly two weeks ago, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak expressed concern that Turkey might pass on some of Jerusalem's intelligence information to the Islamic Republic.
Barak, whose remarks were recorded and broadcast by IDF Radio, told a private meeting of his Labor Party associates that “Turkey is a friendly country and a strategic ally. But the nomination in recent weeks of a new chief of the Turkish secret services, who is a supporter of Iran, worries us.” http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/news.aspx/138886
The appointment, Barak told his colleagues, might lead to “the Iranians obtaining access to classified information... There are quite a few [Israeli] secrets in their hands. The thought that they may now be open to Iran is disturbing," he admitted.
Turkish Under-Secretary Halit Cevik summoned Israeli Ambassador Gabi Levy to a meeting in Ankara to express his outrage over Barak's comments. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/news.aspx/138931
Fidan, 42, was appointed as head of MIT, Turkey's National Intelligence Organization, on May 27. He had previously served as Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the prime minister, and represented the country at the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The IAEA's inspectors have been attempting to identify Iranian nuclear capabilities, as the agency's director worked to convince the country to end its nuclear development program. As a member of the IAEA, Fidan was heavily involved in negotiating with Iran over its uranium enrichment activities.
Ankara sealed a deal on May 17 with Iran to export some of its uranium for enrichment to Turkey in exchange for nuclear fuel. Turkey also voted against a June 9 U.N. Security Council decision to impose increased sanctions against Iran that were intended to further pressure the Islamic Republic into abandoning its uranium enrichment program.
Turkey in crisis
by Harold Rhode
23 juni 2010
Events in Turkey indicate that much of the Turkish public increasingly believes that their Prime Minister blundered by unnecessarily provoking a crisis with Israel.
If crises often provide opportunities, however, the long-term results of the flotilla incident might be just the opportunity to restore Turkish-Israeli relations to where they were before Turkey's current Islamist government took power.
It now appears that the average Turk -- for lack of a better term - approximately 70% of the population who is not part of the political establishment, the academic establishment, or the media -- now understands that this crisis has hurt Turkey internationally and politically and that there was no reason for Turkey to provoke Israel.
How do we know this? Turks rarely confront others directly: doing so means shaming others, which can lead to disastrous consequences. They prefer to make opaque statements which do not directly question their opponents. It is often difficult, therefore, for non-Turks to realize what is actually taking place.
The following examples illustrate these points.
All over Turkey, people are asking the following questions:
Q: Where is this place called Gaza; who lives there?
A: The Palestinians – not Turks.
Q: Why are they trapped there?
A: Because Hamas is there, and will not work with the Palestinian Authority.
Q: Why should Turkey help them when Egypt – an Arab country - is also blockading Gaza, and none of the rich Arab petrodollar countries is helping the people in Gaza?
A: We are not a country as rich as the Arab petrodollar countries; they should help their own people. The Turkish government, our government, should use its money to help our poor, our laborers, and the people out in the eastern part of our country, nine out of ten of whom do not have enough money to put bread on their tables.
Q: Why then did our Prime Minister provoke this crisis?
A: This is an Arab affair. We are Turks. If the Arabs will not help themselves, and we do not have the basic necessities that we need, why should we worry about them? They do not help their own people, let alone other poor Muslims like ourselves. This is not our affair; we should not have been involved.
One elderly Turk summarized this attitude as follows: Why is there all this commotion about Gaza? There is very little difference between us and the Jews. We go to our mosques and they go to their mosques (i.e., Jewish synagogues). We eat Halal meat and they Jews eat their Halal meat (kosher meat). So, I do not understand why we are trying to protect these Palestinians. Why aren't the Arabs helping their follow Arabs as we Turks are helping each other?
Moreover, many of these people are beginning to understand the value of the Turkish-Israeli relationship in positive ways they did understand before. For example, Israel helped Turkey, both militarily and internationally, with political support in the United States. For example, Israel and American Jewry have been helping Turkey over the years in Turkey's lobbying efforts in Congress. Israel has also helped upgrade Turkish military equipment. Israel has also shared with Turkey intelligence information about the terrorist threats facing Turkey.
Last week, the Turkish newspaper, Hürriyet, published a series of graphic pictures showing the flotilla members beating Israeli soldiers, and holding others as potential captives. In Turkey, there was a big uproar as to why the newspaper published them. Was this an attempt to further fuel the crisis, or was IT an attempt to subtly shame the government for having supported the flotilla terrorists?
Erdo?an and the people around him saw the photographs as a way to show that Israel was getting what was due it as it had attacked a "humanitarian" effort.
A cardinal principle in Turkish culture, however, is that one does not hurt or oppress the weak or defenseless; the pictures clearly show the flotilla members doing just that.
Again, as Turkish culture is subtle and indirect, this was a quiet way of showing that the flotilla members were bad, immoral people, hurting people who were down.
By extension, this means that the people who supported the flotilla – the Turkish Prime Minister Erdo?an, President Gül, and Foreign Minister Davuto?lu – are themselves part of these forces of evil and immorality. Note that the newspaper did not directly attack the government, but the message was clear to the people: Why did our government support oppression?
The Reaction of the Turkish Military
Early last week, there was an attack on a Turkish naval installation in the port of Iskenderun on Turkey's southern coast. Erdo?an blamed this attack on the PKK (a Kurdish terrorist organization), and insinuated that Israel was behind this attack. The military launched an investigation of the attack, and issued a statement on Friday, June 20, that there had been no foreign involvement whatever in that incident.
What happened here, and what does this tell us about the flotilla crisis and internal Turkish politics?
Until this announcement, the Turkish military had been notably silent about the flotilla incident. The reason for the silence was that they knew the government was looking for a scapegoat to blame for the negative fallout from the flotilla crisis -- and that the military would be the obvious group to blame.
The public, however, interpreted the military's silence as disapproval of the government's having created the crisis.
By issuing the statement that there had been no foreign involvement, the military showed it felt confident that the Turkish public was holding Erdo?an, Davuto?lu, and their cronies responsible for the flotilla blunder: The military was indirectly accusing the government of lying to the people about the facts.
The military reaction is just one more indication that the Turkish public feels that its governmental leaders are heading Turkey down a dangerous path. Further, given Turkish culture, it is also highly unlikely that the military would have issued such a statement if it thought that the government had the support of the people.
Turkey's Religious Leader Gülen's Opposition to the Flotilla.
Fethullah Gülen is one of the most powerful religious leaders in Turkey, even though he has lived in exile in the US since 1999, under indictment in Turkey for having tried to undermine the secular Turkish constitution. Gülen has many followers in all walks of life in Turkey, including the police; business leaders; intellectuals, Turkey's equivalent to the FBI; intelligence organizations, and members of the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
After the crisis began, Gülen gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal in which he criticized the Turkish government –- again indirectly -– for provoking this crisis with Israel. Gülen said that if Turkey wanted to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza, the Turkish government should have coordinated this with the Israeli authorities, because "one must not go against authority."
What does this mean? Although both Gülen and the current Turkish Islamist government agree on many Islamic subjects, they disagree on very basic issues:
President Gül, Foreign Minister Davuto?lu, and to some extent Prime Minister Erdo?an, have views very similar to those of the Arab-Oriented Muslim Brotherhood; so it is therefore not surprising that many Arabs, as a result of the Flotilla crisis, are now looking toward Turkey as their leader. Strange as this may seem, they see Prime Minister Erdo?an's Flotilla Incident as standing up for the Arabs as no other Arab leader has done. (For more Arab reactions to the Flotilla Crisis, See, http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4383.htm).
Gülen, on the other hand, is Turkish and Turkic-Oriented. Gülen has huge amounts of funds at his disposal; he finances schools throughout the Turkic lands of Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as Europe and the U.S.. These schools teach a "Turkish/Turkic-oriented Islam," which has little concern for the Arab world. It is therefore obvious why so many ultra-nationalist Turks -- some of whom want a union of all Turks from Northwestern China to the Adriatic Sea -- support Gülen. These Turks have little interest in the Arabs; they see the Flotilla crisis as actually hurting the interests of the Turks.
The Flotilla incident is therefore causing havoc among the different forces within Turkey who wish to pull it in different directions -- some of which could be advantageous to the West and Israel.
From a Western point of view, the Turkish government has invented a crisis which could lead to the end of Turkish-Israeli cooperation in various fields. But in Turkish terms, it has also unleashed forces that, if handled properly, could possibly bring about a change in the forces that rule Turkey in a not-too-distant future. These forces could repair the damage induced by the Turkish government.
Only time will tell which side will win, but inside his country, Erdo?an now seems to be on the ropes.
Ahmadinejad Cozies Up to Turkey
by Hana Levi Julian
June 6, 2010, Sivan 24, 5770Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to attend a three-day regional summit starting Monday in Istanbul, to be chaired by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, according to the Fars news agency. Among those attending the third summit on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) will be heads of state from Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Macedonia, Kazakhistan and Azerbaijan.
In addition, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, high-level United States officials, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Kyrgyz interim leader Roza Otunbayeva are expected to show up, along with the prime ministers of Jordan, Oman, China and Cambodia..
Turkey has been offered the organization's next presidential term by Kazakhstan, the permanent CICA head. Iran is a permanent member of the group, which also includes the Palestinian Authority as a separate country called “Palestine.” The 20-member body may soon welcome Vietnam as a new member as well.
On the agenda will be a discussion on the issue of nuclear weapons in the region.
Last week at a U.S. State Department news briefing, spokesman Phillip J. Crowley told reporters that Iran continued to refuse to comply fully with international restrictions on its nuclear development and has not stopped enriching uranium at 20 percent in its headlong rush towards the probable development of a nuclear weapon.
After the failure of more than a year of diplomatic dancing with Tehran, Washington has now joined Israel in asking for harsher economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic in the hope they might prove more persuasive.
But while the United States has not yet put the finishing touches on its resolution for sanctions at the United Nations Security Council, Brazil, Turkey and Venezuela have grown closer to Iran. Venezuela, in particular, possesses the largest source of oil outside the Middle East, and Turkey presents its own set of security risks, inasmuch as it shared many military secrets with Israel as an ally.
Back in October, a proposal for Iran to export its low-enriched uranium to Russia for safe upgrade to non-military standard was refused by Tehran. Instead, the Islamic Republic made a deal with Turkey and Brazil to export 1,200 kilograms of uranium per month for enrichment outside the country – but has yet to follow through. Crowley noted that Iran meanwhile continues to enrich its uranium to military grade at home.
“While the TRR – the joint declaration in Tehran may technically fulfill what had been the proposal back on October, we don't think that it fundamentally addresses the larger concerns about Iran's noncompliance with its international obligations,” Crowley said. “Turkey understands that. Brazil understands that. And when this is put to a vote, Turkey, Brazil, other countries will have to judge how to proceed.”
Reactie Geert Wilders op het Flotilla-convooi
http://video.nl.msn.com/watch/video/wilders-konvooi-gaza-is-turkse-provocatie/5cx59rh3
Turkey is calling for a jihad against Israel
Joshua Teitelbaum, Guardian
10 juni 2010
Erdogan's bellicose support for the flotilla has sacrificed Israeli relations in the service of retrograde east-facing aspirations
Support for Turkey is at an all-time high in the Arab world. The last time Turkish flags were carried through the streets of Middle Eastern capitals was during the first world war, as people took to the streets in continued support for the Ottoman sultan-caliph against the western entente powers.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_DynastyThe sultan-caliph had proclaimed a jihad. Thanks to Turkish government support of a blockade-running mission led by a group of Hamas sympathisers, they are flying once again. No ruling Arab leader is as popular as the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose discourse amounts to calls for a jihad against Israel.
Israel's relations with Ankara – military, economic, and tourist (Israelis once flocked to Turkey) – have been sacrificed on the altar of Turkey's retrograde aspiration to lead the Islamic world and establish itself along with Iran as an alternative to American power. Turkey is once again turning eastwards.
The Erdogan government's outrageous provocation of Israel could have been prevented. Israel begged the Turkish government not to let the Mava Marmaris depart with its meagre cargo of humanitarian aid (meagre compared to the aid Israel facilitates every day) and Islamist extremists armed to the teeth with clubs, wrist rockets that fire deadly projectiles, switchblades and military-style night vision equipment. http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk
The provocation is all the more shameful since the Turkish government has proclaimed that all passengers were checked thoroughly. Is this the behaviour of a friendly country? Of the six ships, only the Turkish ship resisted violently; all the others were boarded without incident.
But the gall of Erdogan and his foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu knows no bounds. Erdogan's bellicose exhortations were beyond belief. "The heart of humanity has taken one of her heaviest wounds in history," he cried. "Bloody massacre" … "spilling the blood of innocent humans" … "in the history of humanity this has been recorded as a major shame" … "a despicably cowardly and vicious act." Turkey, unlike Israel, bellowed Erdogan, is not an "adolescent, rootless state". "As precious as Turkey's partnership is, so harsh will be her hostility." He concluded, no less: "Today is a turning point in history … Nothing will ever be the same again."
While Erdogan was engaged in war-mongering, Davutoglu was urging the west to drop sanctions against Iran. He next expressed his "disappointment" that the US had not condemned the Israeli raid, which he termed "murder conducted by a state". (In contrast, the sinking of a South Korean ship in May by North Korea, killing 46 sailors, was of "great concern" to the Turkish foreign ministry.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10129703.stm
It is difficult to imagine that Turkey would be engaging in this kind of behaviour were the US demonstrating world leadership and not abandoning the field to the likes of Erdogan. While the administration works to assure Israel's security with co-operation on missile defence, it has yet emboldened Israel's enemies by publicly pressuring Jerusalem at every turn, not taking decisive action against Iran, and caving to Egypt by singling out Israel – to the exclusion of Iran – at the nuclear non-proliferation treaty review conference last month. Post-conference palliatives offered up by US officials did little to ameliorate the impression in the region that the US was hanging Israel out to dry. Turkey was simply bandwagoning.
Israel will now be closely examining its relationship with Turkey. Turkish Jews are afraid to leave their homes. Israel has withdrawn the families of its diplomats out of fear for their safety. Israel has excellent relations with the armed forces of Turkey, but they have had their wings clipped by the massive assault against them in the murky episode known as Ergenekon, in which several military officers and others are accused of trying to overthrow Erdogan's party. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7225889.stm
There may be an international commission of inquiry into the incident. An unbiased commission must certainly also examine the possible complicity of the Turkish authorities in arming the militants.
There is still hope for Turkey. While old-style Kemalism probably needs to be revamped, the person to do it just might be Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the newly elected head of the Republican People's party (CHP).
http://www.economist.com/node/16219855?story_id=16219855
As the Washington Institute's Soner Cagaptay notes in the Jerusalem Post http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=176927 , he could bring about a "New Kemalism – Kemalism 2.0 – [which] would be updated and recast to preserve the liberal aspects of a Kemalist polity, while jettisoning authoritarianism and anachronistic aspects of traditional Kemalism."
Spurned by the EU, where it has applied for membership and ruled by an Islamist party with delusions of grandeur, Turkey is determined to lead the Muslim world once more and is promoting a clash of civilisations in order to compete strategically with the US. Turkey is no longer a friend, but not yet an enemy of the US. It is a "frenemy" http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/01/how_do_you_say_frenemy_in_Turkish writes Steven Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations. Let's hope that Ankara's Islamist rulers pull back from the brink represented by its risky and irresponsible policies.