Turkey itching for war against Israel?
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davotuglu is apparently itching for war against Israel (Hat Tip: Joshua I).Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s recent remarks saying, “We want peace, but there is no will for peace on the Israeli side,” has rekindled the debate. This statement was made in the wake of harsh statements from Tel Aviv.A few comments.
But it seems that there is no single voice coming from Tel Aviv. There is only a cacophony that is hard to understand. So it is more important to watch the internal conflicts in Israel than the Turkish-Israeli crisis. It is strange that neocons and Israel’s extreme rightists have been targeting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu for years. We are watching carefully the campaigns these circles and their extensions in Turkey carry out to get rid of Davutoğlu. But what happened? Their campaign made Erdoğan and Davutoğlu stronger. The Israeli foreign minister, who is the most extreme rightist among those circles, has been declared persona non grata by all. Most probably, he will lose his position as foreign minister.
First, the statement "we want peace, but there is no will for peace on the Israeli side" implies that Israel and Turkey are at war. Is that what Davotuglu believes? Does he plan on following through on that belief? If so, does he believe that NATO will protect him when Israel retaliates?
Second, the 'cacophony' is called democracy. It's a reality in this country. Deal with it.
Third, what 'crisis' is there between Israel and Turkey. The Mavi Marmara is seven months behind us. Israel is not going to apologize. Deal with that too.
Fourth, Israel has been targeting Erdogan and Davotuglu for 'years'? This fairly well-informed Israeli never heard of Davotuglu until seven months ago, and doesn't recall hearing a bad word about Erdogan until he stormed out on Shimon Peres in Davos in January 2009. I am not aware of any orchestrated campaign in Israel to 'get rid' of them.
Fifth, no one is going to get rid of Avigdor Lieberman either. He heads the second biggest party in the coalition, and while he unfortunately become a figurehead in the foreign ministry except in matters dealing with the former Soviet Union, the likelihood of him going anywhere anytime soon seems quite small.
One final comment: What's most amazing about this and many similar stories is the Turkish obsession with Israel. If they weren't still discussing 'apologies,' we would have forgotten the incident a long time ago. Turkey seems as obsessed with Israel as Iran is, and frankly that is what is worrisome and - given the lack of a common border - inexplicable except as rank anti-Semitism.
Labels: Ahmet Davutoglu, Avigdor Lieberman, Mavi Marmara, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish obsession with Israel
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:58 PM
4 Comments:
Yup. The Turks should close the book on the Mavi Marmara - they got it back when Israel was perfectly within its rights to sink or scupper it as a hostile vessel. They can consider that an Israeli apology of sorts and move on.
No one in Israel is interested in a confrontation with Turkey. But the Turks seem to want to keep an old incident alive for domestic political reasons. Israel is not going make Erdogan's life at home easier for him.
That's all that needs to be said on the incident.
"One final comment: What's most amazing about this and many similar stories is the Turkish obsession with Israel."
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Sort of like Egypt's.
Islam is a sickness.
I suppose they are jealous of Iran and want their own Stuxnet!
I have to smile grimly, Israel thrashing Turkey, wonderful pipe dream
You are stating the Turks are as useless as those you fought in 67 ?
Having a grandfather with the Anzacs who did push the turks out of Palestine, we Anzacs know how good the Turks are in a tiff.
But I'm curious, Israel shouts out that it is an ally of the USA, but you send no troops to Afghanistan, why ?
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