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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| Turkey launches long-term diplomatic war against Israel | |
| 2010-06-02 | |
Turkeys recalling of its ambassador and canceling of three military drills are the most concrete signs thus far of the longer and much larger-scale diplomatic row indicated by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðans speech Tuesday, coupled with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoðlus address to the U.N. Security Council and other diplomatic activities. But as Turkey stays hard on Israels heels, Erdoðans statements show that Turkey will only target the current Israeli coalition government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Liebermann, in retaliation for the attack, which ended with as many as 19 dead. This government has become the main source of trouble in the region, Erdoðan indicated in his speech, reflecting the prime and foreign ministers previous decisions to not hold any high-level meetings with the current Israeli leadership. With reciprocal accusations from both sides since the famous Davos spat making it impossible to reduce tension, the only possibility for reconciliation between Ankara and Tel Aviv seems to be a change of administration in Israel. Erdoðan made it clear that Turkey has no problem with either the Israeli people or the Israeli state, calling on the countrys citizens to stand up against the Netanyahu-Lieberman government, which he said hurts the interests of the Israeli people. Full isolation of this government by the international community, backed by strong internal pressure, would surely start a process of removing the current Israeli leadership from power. This, of course, cannot be achieved solely by Turkey. Strong international determination in the international community is required, and Turkey will therefore try to gain the backing of the United Nations, NATO and other respectable international organizations. But the support of the United States is key. Though Erdoðan did not list the further measures Turkey could apply against Israel in response to the deadly attack, it is known that Turkish officials have already started to work on determining ways in which Ankara can curtail its relations with Israel. According to Energy Minister Taner Yildiz, Turkey is examining its energy ties with Israel in the wake of the crisis, though he added that the prime minister would make any final decision. Turkey and Israel had studied construction of the Medstream pipeline project that would connect the two countries for gas, oil and water trade, but the worsening of relations has slowed progress on this project. Following Mondays attack, Turkey is also calling on Israel to take steps to compensate the victims. In addition to an official apology, Ankara is asking Israel to punish the perpetrators of the brutality and compensate the families of the people who lost their lives. Turkey had earlier accused Israel of violating the international laws that prohibits countries from interfering in the navigation of ships on international waters. Some experts, however, argue, citing examples from the past, that not every instance of interference on international waters would necessarily mean a breach of the law. “Countries could stop vessels at a reasonable distance in international waters if they believe that they could pose a security threat,' Hakan Hanlý, a senior attorney-at-law and an expert on international law, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Tuesday. The lawyer, however, also criticized the way Israeli security forces handled the situation. | |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #1 ..YET the hypocritical Turks still want to buy Israeli drones and other military hardware. |
| Posted by: Mike Hunt 2010-06-02 11:35 |