Israeli army disowns general’s Turkey attack

The Israeli military on Saturday disassociated itself from remarks critical of Turkey made by one of its generals after Ankara described them as unacceptable and demanded an urgent clarification. Skip related content

The remarks by Major General Avi Mizrahi, commander of the Israeli army headquarters, followed a row sparked by Israel’s offensive in Gaza last month and contained “unacceptable claims and nonsense targeting our prime minister and our country,” the foreign ministry said.

The Israeli ambassador to Turkey was summoned to the foreign ministry on Saturday and handed a note of protest, the statement said, adding that “the Israeli authorities were asked for an urgent clarification.”

In Jerusalem, the Israeli army later issued a statement saying Mizrahi’s remarks were not representative of its views.

“General Mizrahi said some things that might be construed as critical of Turkey. The army spokesman wishes to clarify that this is not the official position of the army.”

On Friday, the Turkish media quoted Mizrahi as saying Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who vehemently criticised Israel‘s action in the Gaza Strip, “should first look in the mirror” and spoke about Ottoman massacres of Armenians during World War I and the Kurdish conflict in Turkey.

The Turkish military also denounced Mizrahi’s remarks, saying they “distort the realities and are excessive, unfortunate and unacceptable.”

Such comments “can harm national interests in relations between the two countries,” the statement said.

“We expect the Israeli general staff, which we believe places importance on relations with the Turkish armed forces, to clarify the issue,” it added.

The Gaza conflict has strained relations between Israel and Turkey, a predominantly Muslim non-Arab nation which has been the Jewish state’s main regional ally since the two signed a military cooperation accord in 1996.

On January 29, Erdogan stormed out from a heated debate on the Gaza war at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland after clashing with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Before walking off, he said Israel committed “barbarian” acts in Gaza, told Peres that “you know well how to kill people” and lashed out at the audience for applauding the Israeli president’s emotional defence of the war.

Mizrahi’s remarks reportedly came at an international conference in Israel on Tuesday in comments on Erdogan’s outburst, after which Israel had sought to defuse tensions, saying that relations would recover in time.

Israel’s 22-day offensive on Islamist Hamas-controlled Gaza left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead and injured 5,300 others.