BWAHAHAHAH! Turks 'outraged' over Israeli travel warning
You will recall that earlier this week, I reported that Israelis have been advised
not to travel to Turkey. The Turks are seething about that warning, claiming that it was
isssued in revenge for Prime Minister Erdogan accusing Israel of genocide.
The Turks claim that the warning is based on "vengeful political considerations aiming to portray Turkey as failing to protect Jews and Israelis."
It was also claimed that Turkey is putting great efforts into securing local Jewish and Israeli institutions and that the diplomatic crisis with Israel does not effect its determination to fight terror. The Turks are particularly angry at the Israeli announcement's timing and view it as renege for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most recent verbal attack on Israel.
Israeli state officials categorically denied basing the decision on political considerations, including revenge.
The decision was based on solid intelligence indicating plans by Iran and Hezbollah to carry out a terrorist or abduction attack against Israeli or Jewish targets, they said. Israeli officials got the impression that the Turks did not take this information seriously enough having made no arrests.
There are still Israelis traveling to Turkey despite the warning. If they are kidnapped, please tell me that we aren't going to trade 1,000 murdering terrorists for them.
In the meantime, I would guess that incidents like the one pictured above might also make Israelis think twice about traveling to Turkey.
Labels: Turkish obsession with Israel, Turkish tourism
It's come to this: Israelis warned not to travel to Turkey shortly after Erdogan accuses Israel of genocide
I suppose it was inevitable that it would come to this. Israel's counter-terrorism service is
warning Israelis not to travel to Turkey. And earlier today, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of genocide against the 'Palestinians.'
The National Security Council's counter terrorism bureau advised Israelis Tuesday night to avoid traveling to Turkey because of the threat of an impending terrorist attack there.
A statement issued by the bureau said terrorist elements were planning an attack against "Israeli/Jewish targets in Turkey in the coming days." Therefore, according to the advisory, Israel's should refrain from visiting the country.
The advisory came less than a week after the Mossad – according to a report in the Turkish daily Hurriyet - warned that Israel’s diplomatic missions in the country could be targeted by Iran.
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The advisory also came just hours after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who in recent weeks had toned down a bit his anti-Israel rhetoric, stepped it up once again, accusing Israel of committing genocide.
"We are asking that Israel stop the genocide it is carrying out against Palestinians in Gaza," Erdogan said. "We are asking Israeli residents, the children of the Holocaust, to stop the attacks against the Palestinians people. The government is carrying out terrorist actions; I ask that the people say enough to this terror."
Foreign Minister spokesman Yigal Palmor responded by saying, "If targeting rocket shooters is genocide, what would Mr. Erdogan call killing Kurdish civilians?"
Please stay away from Turkey. Whether or not you are an Israeli.
Labels: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish obsession with Israel, Turkish tourism
Smart Jews: 77% of Israeli Jews won't travel to Turkey
Most Israelis won't even be tempted by the picture at the top of this post. That's because it was taken in Antalya, Turkey and
77% of Israeli Jews won't go there - even if the trip is paid for (Hat Tip:
Joshua I).
The survey, conducted in late January, included 500 respondents that represent a statistical sample of Israel's adult Jewish population (maximal sampling error: 4.5%).
According to the survey, Turkey, once one of the most popular vacation spots, ranked as Israelis' least favorite destination.
Asked if they would travel to Turkey if the trip was already paid for, a whopping 77% answered they would not. Among those who answered affirmatively there was prominent representation to men, youngsters and seculars.
I sure hope that the Turkish Ministry of Tourism can attract enough Gazans to pick up the slack.
Heh.
Labels: Turkish tourism
Turkey recalls its tourism attache
Once upon a time, religious Israelis mocked secular Israelis for having their holidays in Turkey rather than in Israel. No more. After a glitzy bus advertising campaign this past summer yielded nothing (that's what this article omits), Turkey has decided to
recall its tourism attache from Tel Aviv (Hat Tip:
Joshua I).
Turkey recalled its tourism attache, Inanc Ozcakmak, from Tel Aviv on Thursday, with the intention of closing the office in the near future.
The move was viewed as yet another installment of Turkey's diplomatic offensive against Israel, which began in May 2010 after Israel refused to apologize for their raid on the Gaza-bound Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, during which nine Turkish nationals died.
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Turkish officials claimed that the decision to recall the attache was in response to what they say is an Israeli ban on Israeli tourists to Turkey. To date, Israel has warned its citizens that traveling to Turkey could pose dangers, but have not issued any sort of official restriction.
According to the Turkish officials, the Turkish government felt there was no need to keep a tourism attache in Tel Aviv, with an annual budget of $1.5 million, if Israeli tourists would not visit Turkey.
Until two years ago, Israeli tourism in Turkey flourished, with more than half a million tourists visiting Turkey each year. Turkey's tourism office in Tel Aviv handled all the bureaucratic work associated with the tourist programs.
This sounds more like Turkey realizes that its money could be better spent elsewhere than part of a diplomatic offensive by Erdogan. Kudos to my fellow Israelis for not going there.
By the way, how many Turks have ever visited Israel?
Labels: Israeli tourism, Turkish obsession with Israel, Turkish tourism
Israelis flee from Turkey
I haven't been willing to change planes in Istanbul on the way to the US since the end of 2008. Now, Israelis who are less risk averse than I am feel the same way. Despite an advertising campaign this past summer that was meant to draw Israeli tourists to Turkey, Israelis have abandoned the country in droves.
No one wants to go there anymore. Not even to change planes on the way to someplace else.
Gilad Brovinsky, Deputy Head of Marketing for “Disenhaus Tours,” said Tuesday that “in recent months the number of Israeli tourists visiting Turkey was much lower than in previous years and most of them were Israeli Arabs. In recent days with the stories that we’re hearing in the news, it has fallen to zero and we are dealing with mass cancellations of vacations and flights to Turkey.”
Brovinsky added that the cancellations, which should increase even more following Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s announcement on Tuesday that he is suspending defense ties with Israel, include not only package vacations to Turkey, but also a large number of travelers who were using Istanbul as a stop off for connecting flights elsewhere.
Brovinsky said that tourists who cancel their Turkey vacations will probably pick other destinations in the Eastern Mediterranean or Black Sea, making places like Rhodes, Crete, or Varna, Bulgaria the big benefactors of Turkey’s loss of Israeli tourists.
But the Turks might not even notice.
Israelis only make up about one half of one percent of the 30 million tourists who visit Turkey each year.”
...
He also said that Turkish airlines is one of the largest airlines in Europe, and Istanbul is one of the major hub cities in Europe, two factors that will make the loss of Israeli tourist traffic even less likely to cause ripples in Ankara.
But here's a sobering thought which had occurred to me as well, but I didn't know the consequences:
Fischer also presented a scenario in which relations between Jerusalem and Ankara worsen to the point where Turkey no longer allows Israel to use its airspace as its main flight corridor to the west and to Russia. Fischer said that in such a scenario, Israeli flights would have to fly over Greece and elsewhere, increasing flight times and ticket prices.
And could we also reach the point where it's considered unsafe for Israelis to fly over Turkey in case, God forbid you have to make an emergency landing - as is the case with most Arab countries? What could go wrong?
Labels: Turkish obsession with Israel, Turkish tourism
You will recall that earlier this week, I reported that Israelis have been advised not to travel to Turkey. The Turks are seething about that warning, claiming that it was isssued in revenge for Prime Minister Erdogan accusing Israel of genocide. 
