Erdogan's new demand
Just when you thought Israel was going to do something foolish and apologize to Turkey for the Mavi Marmara incident, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan throws a monkey wrench int he proceedings by raising a new issue: He now wants the Gaza 'blockade' lifted as a condition to reconciling with Israel. But that's not an issue that's between Israel and Turkey and I highly doubt that will happen. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's demand last week that in addition to apologizing for the Mavi Marmara incident and paying compensation, Israel must also lift the blockade of Gaza as a precondition to a normalization of ties is complicating efforts to find a resolution to the issue, Israeli officials said Monday.But I'd still like an answer to a different question.
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Although progress on this issue was being made, the officials said that Erdogan's new demand during a speech to parliament that Israel lift the blockade of Gaza – a matter that is not a bilateral Turkish-Israeli issue – has complicated matters. It has also left a feeling among some in Jerusalem that Erdogan is not interested in bringing this issue to closure.
But the Turkish representative on the Palmer Commission, Ozdem Sanberk, said in an interview that appeared Sunday on the Turkish Today's Zaman website, said that it would be possible to restore relations with Israel if it "agrees to apologize and pay compensation." He did not mention the Gaza blockade issue.
Asked if Erdogan's speech to parliament – the speech in which he discussed the demand to lift the blockade – made his job more difficult, Sanberk said, "Statesmen make politically motivated statements and we cannot expect that to change. That's the nature of politics. All politics are local. We still have to do what we need to do, and we must continue to pursue our strategy of negotiation."
Sanberk said that there were "political forces" involved in the issue that were not under the control of the negotiators, but add that he thought the "two countries have a strong political will to leave this tragedy behind them."
The item that's being used to pressure Israel about this is the Palmer Commission report which ostensibly accuses Israel of using excessive force. When the Palmer Commission report was written, did they have the pictures of IHH terrorists carrying live ammunition on the Mavi Marmara, which pictures were only released in June? If not, isn't this evidence important enough to call for reopening the report to consider the implications of that evidence?
Labels: Gaza blockade, Gaza plenty, Mavi Marmara, Palmer Commission, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, Turkish obsession with Israel
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:54 AM
2 Comments:
The perpetrator should apologize to the victim - not that the other way around. If Turkey was interested in reconciliation, it would accept Israel acted in self-defense and close the books. The decision to send Islamic terrorists against Israel rests with Turkey. The Turkish government knew that had the potential for disastrous consequences. Israel under no circumstances should ever apologize for acting properly under the law of nations as a sovereign state to defend its national interests on the high seas. Israel is not required to justify them to Ankara.
Are they crazy? Apologizing to those
war mongers. Israel should have enough dignity to tell the Turks to get lost. If the Turks are anti Israel, an apology wouldn't change their position, on the contrary, an apology would make them stronger and Israel weaker.
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