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Thursday, September 08, 2011

Erdogan renews threat on Gaza flotillas

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has renewed his threat to send Turkish warships to accompany Turkish ships carrying weapons to Gaza.
Turkish warships will escort any Turkish aid vessels to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said in remarks broadcast on Al Jazeera television on Thursday.

Erdogan also said that Turkey had taken steps to stop Israel from unilaterally exploiting natural resources from the eastern Mediterranean, according to Al Jazeera's Arabic translation of excerpts of the interview, which was conducted in Turkish.

...

Erdogan, who has rattled the saber by promising to step up naval patrols in the eastern Mediterranean to ensure freedom of maritime traffic, and who has frozen all defense contracts with Israel, also used the opportunity to preach to Israel about business ethics.

He accused Israel of not providing maintenance for Heron unmanned aerial vehicles that Israel Aerospace Industries supplied to Turkey last year. In 2005, IAI and Elbit Systems won a $183m. contract to supply 10 Heron UAVs and associated systems to the Turkish Air Force. Deliveries were completed last year.

“Israel is not being loyal to bilateral agreements in the defense industry,” Turkish Today’s Zaman’s website quoted Erdogan as saying. “There could be difficulties, problems with another country, such things may happen, but there is an international code of ethics that needs to be upheld in business agreements.”
Someone needs to lower this guy's dose of testosterone.

As to the warships, recall that the IHH backed off participating in this past year's flotilla and I suspect they would back off again because you never know what those crazy Israelis would do.

And as to the UAV repair, he doesn't really think an Israeli company - especially IAI which is partly owned by the government - is going to help him with them now, does he?

Every one of these agreements has something called a Force Majeure (Act of God) clause, which includes war as one of its clauses. I would suggest that the Israeli companies invoke that clause and claim that Erdogan's beating on his chest is an act of war sufficient to prevent them from performing under their contracts.

What could go wrong?

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7 Comments:

At 11:53 PM, Blogger Neshama said...

You've got the correct picture!

 
At 12:05 AM, Blogger Sunlight said...

Israeli companies may not have to use Erdogan's chest beating. I would think the first flotilla, as documented by the Palmer report, would count as that kind of act of war, given the Turkish govt's role. Also wasn't there a video of a Turkish (and/or Egyptian) govt person's speech on the dock or the deck or something calling for battle? I wonder if they listed that video and all the other ones like it in the Palmer report?

 
At 12:39 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Article One of the NATO charter reads as follows:

The Parties undertake, as set forth in the Charter of the United Nations, to settle any international dispute in which they may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered, and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.


Turkey’s warlike threats obviously contradict the NATO charter

 
At 12:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Erdogan's rant about the drones is hilarious - HE'S the one who said Turkey is ceasing all military cooperation with Israel. I hope he chokes on one of those drones.

So he rejects the UN ruling, says he's going to take the issue of the blockade to the ICC, but meantime he threatens an act of war? I think he's blowing a lot of hot air.

 
At 1:23 AM, Blogger Droid said...

I will bless those who bless you; curse those who curse you. Goodbye Turkey

 
At 3:36 AM, Blogger Captain.H said...

“Israel is not being loyal to bilateral agreements in the defense industry,” Turkish Today’s Zaman’s website quoted Erdogan as saying. “There could be difficulties, problems with another country, such things may happen, but there is an international code of ethics that needs to be upheld in business agreements.”

Now, THAT's the Turkish Islamist translation of chutzpah.

BTW, wouldn't an "international code of ethics" also apply to treaties freely undertaken by Muslim nation states with Israel? And wouldn't that also behoove the Palestinian pseudo-government to follow the terms of the Oslo Accords they freely signed? But back to Turkey. Wouldn't "international code of ethics" also apply to those business contracts between Turkish corporations, with Turkish Govt approval, and their Israeli counterparts? What about that big water project agreement between Turkey and Israel, that the Turks deep-sixed?

Besides Turkish "chutzpah", what are the Turkish words for "shameless", "hypocrisy"?

 
At 9:00 AM, Blogger NormanF said...

Turkey has the chutzpah to sit there and accuse Israel of violating agreements when Turkey is clearly out to harm Israel and its interests.

Turkey has made its views very clear. Erdogan shouldn't expect that Israeli apology to ever be forthcoming.

The Jewish State is not Turkey's doormat.

 

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