Category: Israel

‘Israel must apologize for Gaza flotilla or remain isolated in Mideast’

Turkish PM Erdogan slams U.S. for supporting ‘state terrorism of Israel against Turkey,’ says Turkey, Iran and Pakistan have a common future.

By The Associated Press and Haaretz Service

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that until Israel apologized for its May attack on a Gaza-bound aid ship in which nine Turkish citizens were killed it would remain isolated in the Middle East.

“Israel must apologize to Turkey and pay compensation for the state terrorism in the Mediterranean,” Erdogan said while addressing members of his Islamic-oriented party at a weekend retreat, adding that “If it does not, it will be doomed to remain isolated in the Middle East.”

The Turkish premier also criticized the United States for continuing to support Israel after the “uncivilized” attack during a recent state visit to Pakistan.

“Nine Turkish martyrs on the ship received 21 bullets from Israeli soldiers in their bodies, we provided post mortem reports and even the pictures to the EU and U.S. but Washington is not ready to condemn the state terrorism of Israel against Turkey which means that the U.S. is supporting an international terrorist who killed our citizens in international waters,” Erdogan told the Pakistan Tribune.

According to the report the Turkish prime minister also stressed the importance of close ties between Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey, saying that the countries have a common security and financial future.

Earlier this month the U.S. and Israeli expressed concern regarding Turkey’s growing military ties with Iran and China, especially following a joint Turkish-Chinese air-force exercise.

Until two years ago Israel was Turkey’s main partner for air combat training.

In the wake of Operation Cast Lead and the subsequent deterioration of bilateral relations Turkey last year revoked Israel’s participation in the maneuvers. The United States decided not to take part in the exercise this year because of that decision. A number of other NATO members followed suit.

Turkey replaced the Israel Air Force with its Chinese counterpart. China sent Sukhoi SU-27 fighter aircraft and pilots to train with Turkey’s F-16 fighters. In the past these exercises were held in relatively openness, but last week they were held covertly, with only a brief report appearing in the Turkish media after the exercise.

The Obama administration also protested Turkey’s military cooperation with Iran after it was reported that the Chinese fighter planes were sent to Turkey via Pakistan and Iran.

The developing ties among Turkey, Iran and China are also reflected in weapons deals, with Iran buying from China mainly missile technology.

October 17, 2010
‘Turkey will not attend OECD conference in Israel’

Photo by: AP

By JPOST.COM STAFF
10/13/2010 19:49

Move described as first official boycott following flotilla affair; Culture and Tourism Minister says “We want tourism to take place, not politics.”

A Turkish delegation will not be in attendance at this year’s OECD conference, being held in Jerusalem later this month, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay spoke to reporters on Tuesday and confirmed that Turkey would not be sending representatives to Israel for the conference despite prior plans to the contrary.

“Regrettable statements have been made. We want tourism to take place, not politics,” Günay was quoted as saying.

Hurriyet described the move as Turkey’s first official boycott of Israel in the wake of the Mavi Marmara raid, in which nine Turkish activists were killed

The UK has also said it won’t be attending the conference, but told The Jerusalem Post that the reasons for this were non-political. A Foreign Office spokesman said:

“The UK’s opposition to boycotts against Israel is well-known. The UK will chair a session at the OECD’s meeting of International Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Jerusalem later this month. The decision [not to attend the tourism conference] was due to the unavailability of the relevant delegates.”

https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Turkey-will-not-attend-OECD-conference-in-Israel

October 14, 2010
New int’l flotilla heading to Gaza in early 2011

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
10/12/2010 09:53

IHH says may send ship larger than Mavi Marmara; US group sending ship named after Obama’s book, “Audacity of Hope.”

GENEVA — Pro-Palestinian groups plan to sail a flotilla of boats through Israel’s sea blockade of Gaza as early as February in the second such attempt in less than a year, activists said Monday.

The activists, representing groups from over a dozen countries including Switzerland, Turkey and the United States, said the flotilla would be bigger than the one stopped by Israel earlier this year.

“It’s not about the aid,” Huwaida Arraf of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition told reporters in Geneva.

Arraf said the aim will instead be to show that the Gaza blockade can be broken. A spokeswoman at Israel’s embassy in Bern, Shlomit Sufa, said humanitarian goods are allowed into Gaza by land and the sea blockade is needed to prevent weapons being smuggled in to the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Several smaller ships have failed to reach Gaza since the May raid — most recently last month, when a boat carrying Jewish activists tried to reach the densely populated strip. Among the groups planning to take part in the latest flotilla is the Turkey-based Islamic charity IHH, which sponsored the Mavi Marmara — by far the biggest ship in the first flotilla. A representative of the group, Ahmet Faruk Unsal, said IHH is considering sending another ship of the same size. An American group, US Boat to Gaza, is also planning to send a vessel, said activist Jane Hirschmann. The boat will be named “The Audacity of Hope” in reference to US President Barack Obama’s best-selling policy book.

October 12, 2010
Jewish Leader Arrested in Alleged Sex Trade Scheme

Alexander Mashkevitch

JTA Wire Service

A Jewish billionaire who heads a branch of the World Jewish Congress was among 14 businessmen and underage prostitutes arrested on a yacht in Turkey.

Alexander Mashkevitch, born in 1954, heads the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. He is a citizen of Kazakhstan and Israel.

The arrests came in late September after a tip to Turkish authorities that the luxury boat was being used for illegal purposes, The Los Angeles Times reported. The Turkish government, which had leased out the yacht, has repossessed it.

The yacht once belonged to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.

Turkish authorities say they have documents proving that Mashkevitch paid up front to rent the yacht for five days and that the prostitutes were on board, Ynet reported. The boat reportedly was rented out regularly as part of a sex-trade scheme in which passengers would pay several thousand dollars for one night on board.

Some commentators reportedly are saying that the scandal besmirches Ataturk’s name, which is a punishable offense.

This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

, October 8, 2010

October 12, 2010
Did Israel ever consider using nuclear weapons?

Newly declassified documents shine a light on the deliberations of Israel’s leaders during the early days of the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

By Yossi Melman

Media outlets around the world have reported that state archive documents declassified this week showed that Israel’s leadership considered using “drastic means” during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

On October 9, a day after Egypt repulsed Israel’s counterattack on the southern front, prime minister Golda Meir convened a top-level discussion in her office.

The outlook was grim. Troop losses were high, and ammunition and weapons stores were running out. At one point, Meir blurted out that she had a “crazy idea.”

That idea, however, was not a nuclear attack, but many believe a lightning visit to Washington to meet with U.S. president Richard Nixon. The visit was to be so secret that Meir advocated not even informing the cabinet. Defense minister Moshe Dayan supported her plan, but it was never implemented.

Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and Prime Minister Golda Meir in the Knesset on July 26, 1972. Photo by: AP Photo

At the same meeting, officials also discussed the option of having the air force bomb strategic sites in Damascus.

Was the “crazy idea” connected to a critical strike at Syria. It seems the answer is yes.

In another meeting – according to Hanna Zemer, the one-time editor of the newspaper Davar – Dayan spoke of the possibility that “the Third Temple,” meaning the state, would be destroyed. Foreign news outlets have reported that Israel readied its nuclear weapons and even considered using them as a last resort.

The Dimona nuclear facility was completed in 1960. Those same foreign reports say Israel had several dozen nuclear weapons in October 1973, as well as the means to deliver them: French-made Mirage and U.S.-made Phantom aircraft and the Jericho missile, an Israeli improvement on a French model. All of these, the reports said, were at full readiness.

Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh called his book on Israel’s nuclear program “The Samson Option.” The implication is that Israel would use atomic weapons if it viewed itself as facing certain, imminent destruction.

If these reports are accurate – and the documents released this week do not confirm them, but possibly only hint at them through portions blacked out by the military censor – this would be neither the first nor the last time Israel’s leaders have discussed their so-called “doomsday weapons.”

International researchers have posited that Israel had a nuclear device even before the 1967 Six-Day War.

In 1991, Israel again reportedly considered using atomic weapons in response to the Scud missile attacks launched by Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War. Rightist ministers, including Yuval Ne’eman (a physicist involved in Israel’s nuclear program), Rafael Eitan and Rehavam Ze’evi, urged Yitzhak Shamir’s government to respond forcefully, but Shamir rejected Israeli military action out of hand.

In recent years, as Iran emerged as Israel’s foremost threat, experts at home and abroad have raised the nuclear option once again. In lectures in Vienna and Berlin, and later in an ill-considered op-ed in The New York Times, historian Benny Morris has urged Israel’s leaders to hit Iran with a nuclear bomb.

Thankfully, government officials on both left and right have thus far shown responsibility and stuck to the ambiguity policy instituted in 1961, under which Israel promised it would not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East.

They know as well as anyone that the first country to do so will not only forfeit its seat among the community nations, but will likely cease to exist.

https://www.haaretz.com/2010-10-07/ty-article/did-israel-ever-consider-using-nuclear-weapons/0000017f-e297-d9aa-afff-fbdf7ba60000, 07.10.10

October 7, 2010
Damascus Repeats Call For Turkish Involvement In Talks With Israel

Damascus Repeats Call For Turkish Involvement In Talks With Israel
Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 7 Issue: 180

October 6, 2010 03:26 PM
By: Saban Kardas

Turkey and Syria held the second ministerial meeting of the High Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Syrian city of Latakia. The Turkish delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, was composed of twelve ministers including Taner Yildiz, Vecdi Gonul and Besir Atalay (the energy, defense and interior ministers respectively). The meetings reviewed the agreements and protocols, signed between the two countries. The conclusions will be followed up with a monitoring mechanism and more concrete decisions will be made during the next prime ministerial meeting in December (Cihan, October 3).

Much of the talks concerned economic cooperation. In line with their earlier demonstration of intent to move towards economic integration in the Middle East, comprising also Lebanon and Jordan (Sabah, June 10), the Turkish and Syrian delegations discussed the details of creating a free trade zone, easing customs procedures, building new transportation networks including fast trains between Turkish and Syrian cities, among other initiatives. Moreover, they also considered cooperation in agriculture, environment, health, energy and other fields (Anadolu Ajansi, October 3).

The bilateral energy partnership was a major item on the agenda. Yildiz announced that Turkish and Syrian national petroleum companies agreed to form a joint oil exploration company. Syria also allocated seven fields to Turkey without a tender, where exploration will start as soon as both sides resolve the remaining details of their joint enterprise. Yildiz announced that the work on the connection of the Arab natural gas pipeline with the Turkish grid, which might eventually supply Nabucco pipeline with gas from Egypt through Syria, might be concluded within one year (Anadolu Ajansi, October 4).

However, for Ankara, such initiatives in the Middle East have a broader meaning than strictly commercial concerns. During the joint press briefing, Davutoglu emphasized Turkish views on security in the Middle East. Davutoglu maintained that two competing “visions” prevailed in the Middle East: one seeking to destabilize the regional order by sowing the seeds of conflict and supporting terrorism, and the other seeking to maintain regional peace and stability through mutual cooperation. He referred to the high level strategic cooperation councils Turkey launched with Syria and other neighbors as instruments that will contribute to the second vision. He also underscored how Syria joined Turkey in its commitment to a peaceful neighborhood through dialogue and cooperation (Dogan Haber Ajansi, October 4).

In Davutoglu’s view, to the extent that regional countries could expand the scope of the second vision and build regional organizations, they will be able to narrow the scope of the first one, hence eradicate the sources of instability in the Middle East. If such regional cooperation succeeds, it will not only benefit the entire region, but bolster Turkey’s own security by creating a belt of stability around the country.

Perhaps, the most immediate area where this approach has manifested itself is Turkey’s fight against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Aware of the cross-border dimensions of the Kurdish problem and PKK terrorism, Ankara has been working to address this issue through both domestic reforms and regional diplomacy (EDM, September 29). Turkey wants to engage its Middle Eastern neighbors through various cooperation platforms in order to thwart any logistical, financial or manpower support the PKK might receive from the region. Especially in light of the Turkish government’s recent initiatives to solve the Kurdish issue, Syria, perhaps, has been the most cooperative neighbor, as the Syrian government has repeatedly expressed its support for Ankara’s Kurdish initiative as well as its right to fight against terrorism.

As an extension of these collegial ties, Atalay (playing a leading role in the Turkish government’s Kurdish initiative) and Gonul held important talks with their counterparts during the meetings in Latakia. The head of the Syrian delegation, Hasan Turkmani, President Bashar al-Assad’s aide, reiterated their willingness to deepen security cooperation with Turkey (Anadolu Ajansi, October 3). Last week, Turkmani, accompanied by some military officers, visited Ankara to discuss the Syrian contribution to Turkey’s fight against the PKK (Anadolu Ajansi, September 29).

For its part, Syria also hopes to gain strategic leverage from its closer ties with Turkey, beyond the immediate economic benefits. Syria increasingly considers Turkey as a reliable ally against Israel, though Turkey’s involvement in Syrian-Israeli relations has been confined largely to the role of a mediator. Turkey managed to facilitate indirect contacts between the Syrian and Israeli sides in the second half of 2008, which arguably came very close to reaching a settlement on the Golan Heights. This process, however, was interrupted by Israel’s offensive on Gaza in December 2008-January 2009.

Israel’s Palestine policy also opened a new era in Turkish-Israeli relations. Ankara and Tel Aviv were increasingly mired in a cycle of crises, which resulted in the replacement of the so-called Turkish-Israeli “strategic partnership” with a pattern of enmity. As a result, Israel lost its trust in Turkey and questioned the latter’s impartiality. Turkish leaders repeated on many occasions their readiness to resume indirect talks with Ankara’s support. Despite Damascus welcoming the Turkish proposal, the Israeli side continuously rejected it given its lack of trust in Turkey (EDM, July 23, 2009).

Recently, international efforts to revive the Syrian-Israeli dialogue have intensified. As France and the US, among others, have sought to convince Assad to agree to a new round of talks, Assad conveyed his willingness to see Turkey involved in this process (Zaman, September 17). Following the strategic council meeting in Latakia, the Syrian Foreign Minister, Velid el-Muallim, reiterated that Damascus views Ankara as an honest and reliable actor, while international efforts should focus on supporting Turkey’s mediator role (www.sana.sy, October 4).

Although constantly glorifying Turkey’s successful mediation in 2008, the Syrian side refuses to acknowledge that this was made possible by Israel’s view of Turkey as an impartial broker that could open a channel between Tel Aviv and Arab capitals. Syria’s insistence on Turkey’s “impartial mediation,” even after it is long foregone in Israel’s eyes, serves only to underscore that, after all, Ankara is valuable to Damascus not as a reliable mediator per se, but as a reliable ally.

https://jamestown.org/program/damascus-repeats-call-for-turkish-involvement-in-talks-with-israel/

October 6, 2010