Turkish Forum

Category: Israel

  • Joseph Biden’s view of the world’s hot spots

    Joseph Biden’s view of the world’s hot spots

    From correspondents in Washington

    Article from: Agence France-Presse

    BARACK Obama’s vice presidential pick of Senator Joseph Biden is widely seen as shoring up the Democratic Party ticket’s foreign policy credentials in the battle against Republican John McCain.

    Here are Senator Biden’s main positions on the world’s hot spots:

    IRAQ
    Unlike Barack Obama, who opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning – but was not in the Senate at the time of the vote – Senator Biden voted in favour of an October 2002 resolution authorising President George W. Bush to use military force in Iraq.

    Senator Biden however became a fierce critic of Mr Bush’s Iraq policy, saying that while the United States should eliminate Saddam Hussein, a unilateral invasion was “the worst option”.

    In 2006 he wrote that a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq was desirable by 2008, a position close to that of Senator Obama, who supports a withdrawal over 16 months starting the day he takes office.

    In a 2007 interview with The Politico, Senator Biden said he regretted voting for the war.

    He fiercely opposed the so-called “surge” of US troops to Iraq that Mr Bush ordered in early 2007.

    Senator Biden has proposed a plan to end the conflict by dividing Iraq into three largely autonomous ethnic regions – a southern Shiite region, a western Sunni region, and a northern Kurdish region – held together by a central government in Baghdad with limited powers.

    AFGHANISTAN and PAKISTAN

    Like Senator Obama, Senator Biden believes that the “real central front in the war on terrorism” is not Iraq, “but rather the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan”.

    “If we should have had a surge anywhere, it is Afghanistan,” Senator Biden said in a recent opinion article in the New York Times, because “Afghanistan’s fate is directly tied to Pakistan’s future and America’s security”.

    “The recent Pakistani elections gave the moderate majority its voice back,” Senator Biden wrote. “To demonstrate to its people that we care about their needs, not just our own, we must triple assistance for schools, roads and clinics, sustain it for a decade, and demand accountability for the military aid we provide.”

    Senator Biden also called for Mr Bush to fulfill a pledge for a plan for Afghanistan along the lines of the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II.

    IRAN

    Also like Senator Obama, Senator Biden supports direct talks with Iran.

    “I believe the United States should agree to directly engage Iran, first in the context of the ‘P-5 plus 1’, and ultimately country-to-country, just as we did with North Korea,” Senator Biden said in an early July press statement.

    The ‘P-5 plus 1’ refers to the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany.

    “The net effect of demanding preconditions that Iran rejects is this: We get no results and Iran gets closer to the bomb,” he said.

    MIDDLE EAST

    Senator Biden is a strong supporter of Israel.

    “I am a Zionist,” he said in a March 2007 interview with the US-based Jewish cable television network Shalom TV. “You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist.”

    He described Israel as “the single greatest strength America has in the Middle East”.

    He travelled with Senator Obama to Israel in late July, when Senator Obama promised strong support for Israel against the threat from Iran, and said he would strongly support the Mid-East peace process soon after he takes office.

    GEORGIA and RUSSIA

    Senator Biden travelled to crisis-plagued Georgia last weekend on a fact-finding mission.

    “I am going to Georgia this weekend to get the facts first-hand and to show my support for Georgia’s people and its democratically-elected government,” Senator Biden said before his trip.

    In mid-August, following the Russian military incursion into Georgia, Senator Biden said: “I have long sought to help Russia realise its extraordinary potential as a force for progress in the international community, and have supported legislative efforts intended to forge a more constructive relationship with the Kremlin.”

    However, Russia’s actions “will have consequences” on its ties to Washington, he said.

    “Russia’s failure to keep its word and withdraw troops from Georgia risks the country’s standing as part of the international community.”

    Source: www.news.com.au, August 24, 2008

  • McCain Attacks Obama’s Support For Israeli Peace Negotiations

    McCain Attacks Obama’s Support For Israeli Peace Negotiations

    So the McCain campaign is attacking an Obama adviser, and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer, for going to an American Bar Association conference in Damascus and calling on the Syrians to make peace with Israel. I guess to the McCain campaign, anyone that calls for peace through negotiations instead of “peace” through war is asking to be attacked. But this seems like a really dumb thing to do for two reasons.1. If McCain is attacking Kurtzer (and therefore the Obama campaign) for being an appeaser, doesn’t that mean that McCain also thinks that the Israelis are Chamberlin-like appeasers? The Israeli government is after all engaged in very public negotiations with Syria. In fact the Israeli military is one of the chief advocates of trying to negotiate a deal with Syria. Additionally, Assad recently had a very public meeting with Olmert and Sarkozy at the Mediterranean Conference where Olmert expressed hope that negotiations would develop. Does McCain oppose these efforts to negotiate peace? And if so doesn’t that once again put McCain squarely in line with the Bush administration.

    2. McCain himself once upon a time advocated talking to Syria. McCain is forgetting what he said about Colin Powell’s trip to Damascus five years ago. On the Today Show on April 18th 2003 McCain said that despite Syria being a state sponsor of terrorism, he was glad Powell was going there.

    LAUER: Let me ask you about Syria.

    Mr. McCAIN: Sure.

    LAUER: They have denied possessing weapons of mass destruction, they’ve also denied harboring any senior members of the Iraqi leader. The US administration says they have evidence to the contrary. How would you proceed with that situation?

    Mr. McCAIN: I think it’s very appropriate that Colin Powell is going to Syria. I think we should put diplomatic and other pressures on them. It’s also a time for Mr. Asad Bashar to realize that he should be more like his father was. I think he’s too heavily influenced by a lot of the radical Islamic elements and–and militant groups.

    LAUER: Do you think Syria meets the criteria set forth by the president in his post-9/11 address to Congress that they pose an imminent threat to the US in that they are either sponsoring or harboring terrorists?

    Mr. McCAIN: I think they’re–they’re sponsoring and harboring terrorists. I think they have been occupying Lebanon, which should be free and independent for a long time, but I don’t think that that means that we will now resort to the military action. We–we can apply a lot of pressure other than military–than the military action. So what I’m saying, we’re a long way away from it.

    LAUER: Under what circumstances–under what circumstances would you back military action?

    Mr. McCAIN: When we’ve exhausted all other options. And we have a lot of options to–to exercise. And I’m glad Colin Powell’s going there, but the Syrians have got to understand there’s a new day in the Middle East.

    Source :

  • Head of US Jewish Committee: “We are Azerbaijan’s friends”

    Head of US Jewish Committee: “We are Azerbaijan’s friends”

    Interview with David Harris, chief executive of the US Jewish committee.

    – What is your visit to Azerbaijan related to?

    – First of all, we have come here to observe the state of affairs in present-day Azerbaijan. It should be noted that this is my first visit to the country. Upon arrival to the United States, we will tell about everything, we have seen here. We are Azerbaijan’s friends.

    – Azerbaijan is closely cooperating with the US Jews lobby. Which role can the Jewish committee play in the due presentation of Azerbaijan in the United States, including in the US congress? (more…)

  • Israel, Iran and the new neocons

    Israel, Iran and the new neocons

    August 9, 2008

    ANP: Neocons say Bush should let Israel attack Iran after election day before new president takes office.

    American News Project: Washington’s neocons are alive and well, advising both John McCain and President Bush. Now many are saying Bush should permit Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities after Election Day before the new president takes office. ANP investigates as we chase down John Bolton, Bill Kristol and Frank Gaffney to see how far ahead these hawks are thinking. And a new report says the whole plan could backfire.

  • Ahmadinejad’s visit to Turkey “unfortunate” – Israel

    Ahmadinejad’s visit to Turkey “unfortunate” – Israel

    Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

    By Zerin Elci

     

    ANKARA (Reuters) – Israel has expressed its “discomfort” to Turkey over its decision to invite Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Istanbul next week, an Israeli diplomatic official said on Friday.

     

    Ahmadinejad will discuss Iran’s disputed nuclear programme and growing bilateral ties with Turkey during a one-day working visit on Aug 14, which comes after months of lobbying by Tehran.

     

    Predominantly Sunni Muslim Turkey, which has good ties with Israel, has offered to help resolve a dispute between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear programme, which the West fears is aimed at producing atomic weapons.

     

    “We see this visit as unfortunate, especially in the sensitive and crucial time in which Iran is not giving a direct reply to the West about its nuclear programme,” the Israeli diplomatic official based in Ankara told Reuters.

     

    “The Iranian president keeps calling for the destruction of the Israeli state and denies the Holocaust, so this visit is unfortunate because it gives legitimacy to Iran,” the official said, adding Israel had relayed its position to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

     

    Turkey and Iran have growing trade ties and are negotiating expanding energy cooperation. President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan have also sought to boost Turkey’s role as a regional problem solver in the Middle East.

     

    Turkey is also acting as mediator in indirect talks between Israel and Syria, but the Israeli diplomatic official said Ahmadinejad’s visit will not affect those negotiations.

     

    Major powers fear Tehran wants to build an atomic bomb. Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, insists it is only seeking to master nuclear technology to generate power.

  • Israel irked over Iranian leader’s planned visit to Turkey

    Israel irked over Iranian leader’s planned visit to Turkey

    Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

    ANKARA (AFP) — Israel has conveyed its misgivings to Turkey over a planned visit to the country by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an Israeli diplomat said Friday.

    “We are concerned about this visit because we think it is not the appropriate time to host the Iranian president,” the diplomat, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

    Israel voiced its concerns Thursday when the Turkish ambassador in Tel Aviv was summoned to the Israeli foreign ministry and the Israeli ambassador in Ankara visited the Turkish foreign ministry, the official said.

    “It is not a good idea to give legitimacy” to a leader who has called for the destruction of Israel and denies the Holocaust, moreover at a time when Western powers are mulling fresh sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear programme, he said.

    Non-Arab and secular Turkey has been Israel’s main regional ally since 1996, when the two signed a military cooperation accord, much to the anger of Arab countries and Iran.

    It is currently acting as mediator in indirect talks between Israel and its arch-foe Syria.

    But mainly Muslim Turkey has recently improved ties with Iran, its eastern neighbour, and argues that its close dialogue both with the West and Tehran could be an asset for a peaceful resolution of the international standoff over Iran’s nuclear programme.

    Turkish officials have said Ahmadinejad will soon visit the country, without giving a date.

    The visit is reportedly expected to take place on August 14.

    The media have said Ahmadinejad is expected to meet with Turkish leaders in Istanbul rather than the capital Ankara, where the protocol would have required him to visit the tomb of Turkey’s secularist father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, which the head of the Islamic state was reportedly reluctant to do.