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Category: Middle East

Iran taking lessons from Turkey in combating Israel

Kerry arrives in an Ankara eager for role in Mideast diplomatic process; Iranian ambassador says Turkey’s constant resistance proves “we can take what we want to take from Israel.”

US Secretary of State John Kerry, February 8, 2013. Photo: REUTERS/Jason Reed

When apologizing last month for operational errors that might have led to the loss of life on the Mavi Marmara flotilla, Israel realized this would be perceived by some in the region as weakness, but decided a wider array of factors had to be weighed in, a government source said Saturday.

The source was responding to a comment carried by the Turkish Anadolu news agency on Saturday by Alireza Bikedeli, Iran’s ambassador to Ankara, saying that “in the past three years, Turkey, with its constant resistance, showed us we can take what we want to take from Israel.” The source said that in government meetings over the last few years dealing with whether to apologize to Turkey for the May 2010 incident, the question of how an apology would be perceived in the region was always taken into consideration.

But, the official said, there was “a wide array” of other factors to think about as well.

“If the decision leads to a thawing of relations with Turkey, then the Iranians won’t be happy,” the official added.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Turkey Saturday night on the first stop of a six-country tour that will take him to Jerusalem and Ramallah on Sunday through Tuesday.

The Turkish media said that the visit to Istanbul, Kerry’s second visit to Turkey in two months, is coming amid expectations he will offer Turkey a role in the Middle East diplomatic process.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said at a press briefing last week that Kerry would meet Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and discuss the “complex issues surrounding Middle East peace.”

In the past, she said, they have discussed Fatah-Hamas reconciliation, “and our insistence that Quartet principles need to be abided by if this is going to serve the cause of peace.”

While not directly referring to Erdogan’s announced intention to visit the Gaza Strip this month, Nuland said that in the past the US has urged senior Turkish officials that any contact with Hamas be “in service to the greater issue of stability and peace, and that the fundamental underlying tenets of the Quartet principles be reiterated as the necessary precondition.” The Quartet principles are that Hamas recognize Israel, forswear terrorism and accept previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

The prospect of Erdogan indeed going ahead with a trip to Gaza, which he has threatened to do a number of times in the past, seemed to fade somewhat with the announcement that he will be meeting US President Barack Obama in the White House on May 16. The US has in the past urged Erdogan to refrain from making that trip, arguing it would undercut Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and strengthen Hamas.

Asked whether Turkey could play a role in the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic process, something Ankara has expressed an interest in doing, Nuland said Turkey certainly “has significant influence with the Palestinians. It has the ability to encourage Palestinians of all stripes to accept Quartet principles and move forward on that basis.”

One Israeli official said that Turkey is one of any number of international actors – the EU, the French, British, Russians and the UN – which would like to have a larger role in the diplomatic process. “We are ready for countries to play a positive role in the peace process, the official said, adding that to do so these countries “have to have the confidence of both sides.”

via Iran taking lessons from Turkey in combating Israel | JPost | Israel News.

April 7, 2013
An Open Letter to Joshua M. Landis

Attn. Mr. Joshua M. Landis

University of Oklahoma
729 Elm Ave., Hester Hall 116
Norman, OK 73019

Mr. Joshua Landis;

I was shocked by your comments during the live program on Al Jazeera International channel at “Inside Syria” debate on 06 April 2013 Saturday evening as you have been saying “When opposition push in Damascus, Syrian army and government supporters and families will escape from Syria, like 3.000.000 Christians fled from Turkey after 1st World War”

Sir; First of all you have been talking about Syria, what made you comment about the ear after 1st World War? You could give a recent example to the case that was more relevant like Bosnia, like Iraq, like Kosova etc. where they had a civil war.

Let me remind you, it was not a civil war during 1914-1918 and after during 1918-1922.

Allied forces did occupy Turkey for 4 years right after 1st World War that led Turks to rage their Independence War and finally they expelled the occupiers from their land!

I want to know; were you talking about the so called Armenian claims during a civil unrest erupted during Ottoman era? If so that your claim was based on, it was the case which is still not proved and have been occurred during Ottomans before the 1st World War (so the word “Turkey” you used is wrong as well as timing that you have mentioned besides the number you have given).

If you were talking about 1.000.000-1.500.000 Armenians who had to leave Anatolia to southern territories of Ottomans (today’s Syrian & Lebanon) during 1st World War again cannot be the base for your claims as these Armenians did not escape, they have organized armed gangs called Tashnak Sutyun & Hinchak that were burning Turkish & Kurdish villages and killing the civilian Muslim population and acting as pathfinders and support units to Russians in occupied Eastern Anatolia that time, therefore the Armenians living in Eastern Anatolia (only) were forced to be re-located by the Ottoman government by the law called “Tehcir bill” to prevent Armenians aiding Russians to occupy Anatolia against Ottomans in another term basically in order to prevent Armenians from treason.

Or were you talking about the Rum “Greek” minority as they have been subject to a population exchange between Turkey and Greece according to an agreement that was reached between Turkey and Greece after Turkish Liberation War (after 1922) where millions of Turks had to leave Greece and come to Turkey while the same way the Greeks in Anatolia have left Turkey and went to Greece… This as well was not an escape.

So I wish you could explain me who was those 3.000.000 Christians escaping Turkey after 1st World War that you were talking about? When we look at above cases that I have referred to, none of them support you which proves that your comment was irrelevant and since you are a professor, you are not supposed to make your cases on irrelevances. That made me to think; that you are a big anti-Turkish for a reason and you are after fake slogans, lies and bias… If I am wrong please correct me. These are not the qualities of an academic person.

I strongly protest you for your false statements that you have delivered on above mentioned live TV program about Turkey and Turkish history, and hope that you go back to your books and search more about the recent history of Middle East – Turkey & Balkans after 1st World War era to refresh your mind and perhaps learn some true facts to not to make irrelevant, false and annoying comments again.

Regards,

Yusuf Ilker Karaaslan

T: +974 55688730

Doha-QATAR

PS:

Joshua M. Landis is Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He is a member of the Department of International and Area Studies in the College of International Studies. He is also the President of the Syrian Studies Association.

April 7, 2013
Syria Lashes Out at Jordan and Turkey

By RICK GLADSTONE

Syria lashed out at Turkey and Jordan on Thursday for what it called their duplicitous work in fomenting the Syrian rebellion, accusing the Turkish prime minister of chronic lies and telling the Jordanians they were “playing with fire” in letting insurgents arm and train on their soil — a possible hint of retaliation.

The criticisms in the state news media appeared to be part of an intensified propaganda response to new rebel gains in the two-year-old conflict and President Bashar al-Assad’s further isolation.

It included snippets of an interview that Mr. Assad had given to a Turkish television station, in which he also denounced the Arab League for granting Syria’s seat to the opposition coalition bent on overthrowing him.

Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was once close to Mr. Assad, has turned into an ardent enemy and repeatedly called for his departure. Turkey is also housing more than 250,000 Syrian refugees and is helping the Free Syrian Army insurgent group, although the Turks insist they are not providing weapons. Syria, which shares a 550-mile border with Turkey, has frequently accused Turkey of arming the rebels.

“Erdogan has not said a single word of truth since the beginning of the crisis in Syria,” Mr. Assad said in the interview with the Ulusal Kanal television channel in Turkey that is to be broadcast on Friday. A brief preview was posted on YouTube.

Mr. Assad appeared to reserve special criticism for the Arab League, which suspended Syria’s membership in November 2011 and awarded the vacant seat to the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, in a formal ceremony on March 26.

“Real legitimacy is not accorded by organizations or foreign officials,” he said. “All these theatrics have no value in our eyes.”

Syria state television, citing reports in The New York Times and other Western news media about Jordan’s role in helping the rebels, said they showed Jordan had “a hand in training terrorists and then facilitating their entry into Syria,” according to a translation by The Associated Press. It quoted state radio as saying Jordan was “playing with fire.”

The Syrian newspaper Al Thawra, also citing those Western news reports, said in a front-page editorial that the Jordanian government could not claim neutrality while actively supporting the insurgents and collaborating with the United States, Saudi Arabia and others hostile to Mr. Assad. “Their attempts to put out the flame that the leaked information caused will fail in allowing them to continue their game of ambiguity because they have gotten really close to the volcanic crater,” the editorial said.

In what appeared to be a veiled threat of retaliation, the editorial also said “it is difficult to prevent sparks from crossing the border.”

There was no comment from Jordan’s government on the warnings, which have come as insurgent activity in southern Syria near the Jordanian border has escalated and posed a new threat to Assad loyalists there. In the past few weeks, rebels have seized territory near the southern city of Dara’a, where the uprising against Mr. Assad first began.

At the same time, Jordan is facing an acute refugee crisis caused by the Syrian conflict. There are at least 320,000 registered refugees in the country, according to the United Nations, and many more who entered Jordan without registering.

United Nations officials have been warning that the refugee crisis could overwhelm Syria’s neighbors, who have collectively absorbed more than 1.3 million Syrians since the conflict began.

On Thursday in Lebanon, home to about 500,000 Syrian refugees, the commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Filippo Grandi, said the refugee flows caused by the conflict were becoming “unmanageable and dangerous.”

Mr. Grandi’s agency is responsible for Palestinian refugees, a legacy of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Lebanon, which has a population of four million, is already home to about 460,000 Palestinian refugees, and the Lebanese are increasingly concerned that Syria’s Palestinian refugee population of 530,000 could surge into Lebanon if fighting intensifies in the Damascus area, where many of them live. So far, however, Mr. Grandi said, more than 90 percent have stayed in Syria.

Hala Droubi contributed reporting from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Thanassis Cambanis from Beirut, Lebanon.

A version of this article appeared in print on April 5, 2013, on page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: Jordanians And Turks Are Focus Of Syria’s Ire.

via Syria Lashes Out at Jordan and Turkey – NYTimes.com.

April 6, 2013
Obama to Host Leaders from Turkey, Jordan, Gulf States

Dan Robinson

April 05, 2013

WHITE HOUSE —

President Barack Obama plans some intense Mideast diplomacy this month and next, welcoming leaders of Turkey, Jordan and two Gulf states for Oval Office talks on Syria and broader developments in the Mideast.

The White House said President Obama will welcome Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for talks on May 16.

The two men established a close personal and working relationship in Obama’s first term, which has carried over into Obama’s second term as they grapple with the situation in Syria, among other issues.

At the end of his Mideast trip last month, Obama brokered an easing of tensions between Israel and Turkey, bringing the Turkish leader and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a phone conversation to discuss differences.

The White House said talks will include Syria and counterterrorism cooperation, and underscore the strategic relationship between the U.S. and Turkey as NATO allies.

King Abdullah of Jordan, who hosted President Obama in Amman last month, will come to the White House April 26.

In their talks in Jordan, the two leaders discussed the sharply increased refugee flows from Syria, with Obama announcing he would ask Congress for $200 million in additional aid for Jordan.

The White House said the leaders will continue consultations on Syria, and Jordan’s political and economic reforms, which Obama praised during his visit to Amman.

Obama will also meet this month with the Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates.

Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, along with Saudi Arabia, are thought to be providing light weapons and other assistance to Syrian rebels fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Asked if the visits are part of efforts to coordinate assistance to Syrian opposition forces, White House press secretary Jay Carney avoided an answer, keeping to the general description provided of the purpose of the visits.

“There are obviously a number of issues for these leaders and the president to discuss, including Syria, including his recent visit to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories, including the broader developments in the Arab Spring so he looks forward to these visits and they reflect his commitment and interest in the region and in our policies toward the region,” Carney said.

Syria issued a warning to Jordan this week after U.S. and Western officials were quoted saying Jordan is allowing its territory to be used for training Syrian rebels.

Syria will be a key issue in talks Secretary of State John Kerry is having this weekend in Ankara before he returns to Israel for further consultations there.

White House talks last year between President Obama and the United Arab Emirates leader also focused on concerns about Iran’s nuclear program.

via Obama to Host Leaders from Turkey, Jordan, Gulf States.

April 6, 2013
Israel defense systems firms court Turkish military

Following ‘Mavi Maramara’ apology, Israeli defense firms seek to resume cooperation with Turkish military industry.

Turkish F-4 fighter jets Photo: REUTERS/Stringer Turkey

Following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s apology to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, Israeli defense systems manufacturers have been trying to renew their lucrative cooperation with the Turkey military.

These contacts had yielded hundreds of millions of dollars in procurement and upgrade contracts in the years before relations collapsed.

US journal Defense News quoted an official at a major Israeli defense company, who expressed the hope for the renewal of defense cooperation.

“We don’t expect an immediate return to the good old days. But we see no reason why cooperation in key defense systems should not resume in line with normalization of political relations. We expect the Turks to understand that their military and local industry largely benefited from Israeli-related programs, and they still can,” the official said.

“Trading flourished during the crisis in bilateral relations. If non-defense trade flourished in bad times, why shouldn’t defense trade normalize in better times?” he added.

Trade between Israel and Turkey has risen 30% since 2010 despite the crisis caused by the Gaza flotilla deaths, and despite a small fall in 2012. During the decade before the incident, Turkey was an important export market for Israeli defense companies.

Israel Military Industries Ltd. (IMI) upgraded 170 Turkish M60A1 tanks, bringing them to a level approaching the Merkava Mark III in a nearly $1 billion deal.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) sold the Turkish Air Force advanced UAVs and ground control stations. IAI also upgraded a batch of 54 Turkish F-4 fighter jets.

According to Defense News, “Signs of a political and subsequently defense-related thaw came early this year, when Israel’s Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) unit Elta supplied Turkey with military equipment in the first such deal since 2010. Elta delivered $100 million worth of electronic equipment for four airborne early warning and control aircraft Boeing is building for the Turkish Air Force.”

Nevertheless, Turkish officials have greeted the ostensible rapprochement cautiously.

“The apology is a first step for the normalization of political ties, but it is too premature to think this will immediately pave the way for a return of Israeli contenders to the Turkish market,” a senior Turkish procurement official told Defense News. “We must first wait and see if the detente will lead to full normalization.”

“We need a stable period of confidence-building measures before we seriously sit down and discuss projects with Israeli suppliers. If normalization happens, we will view Israeli companies like any other foreign company and think that business is business. At the moment, there is too much political contamination in the air,” he added.

A board member of a Turkish state-owned defense company said, “A direct or indirect nod from Erdogan’s office would signal a gradual return to normalcy in defense business with Israeli companies. But for that to happen, the thaw must proceed and lead to full restoration of diplomatic ties.”

Turkish analyst Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, director of the German Marshall Fund’s told Defense News it would be wrong if one had too high expectations for the Turkish-Israeli reconciliation.

“Political realities have pushed both countries toward normalizing relations, toward cooperation. But the two are unlikely to return to their strategic relationship in the foreseeable future. Unlike in the 1990s, they will not become close allies again,” he said.

via Israel defense systems firms court Turkish military | JPost | Israel News.

April 6, 2013
Iraq PM softens tone on Turkey, says rapprochement welcome

BAGHDAD | Fri Apr 5, 2013 11:41am EDT

(Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Friday he would welcome rapprochement with Turkey, softening months of hostile rhetoric fuelled by Ankara’s engagement with Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.

Resource-hungry Turkey has antagonized Baghdad by courting Iraqi Kurds, who are at loggerheads with the central government over how to exploit the country’s oil reserves and share the revenues.

Ankara and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have been negotiating an energy deal ranging from exploration to export since last year.

Officials and industry sources say there have been efforts behind the scenes to reconcile Baghdad and Ankara at the insistence of the United States, which fears a Turk-Kurd energy partnership could precipitate the break-up of Iraq.

“Iraq welcomes any step towards rapprochement with Turkey on the basis of shared interests, mutual respect and good-neighborliness,” Maliki said in a statement posted on his website.

Baghdad says it alone has the authority to control export of the world’s fourth largest oil reserves, while the Kurds say their right to do so is enshrined in Iraq’s federal constitution, drawn up following the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

Kurdish crude used to flow through a Baghdad-controlled pipeline running from Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, but exports via that pipeline dried up last December due to a row over payment.

The KRG is now shipping small volumes of crude oil by truck to Turkey and is pressing ahead with plans to build its own export pipeline — moves that have prompted Baghdad to accuse Ankara of complicity in “smuggling” Iraqi oil.

In an interview on Thursday, Turkey’s energy minister suggested “a structure” whereby Ankara would play an active role in distributing Iraqi oil revenues fairly.

“We accept that any revenue that reaches any region of Iraq belongs to the whole of Iraq and this is also the correct thing,” Taner Yildiz said. “With everything we do we have to pay attention to the sensitivities of the Iraqi central government.”

Besides the spat over oil, Maliki and his Turkish counterpart have also traded barbs for inciting sectarian tensions and summoned each others’ ambassadors in tit-for-tat maneuvers.

“There are contacts,” Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a conference in the Kurdish region’s city of Suleimaniyah in March.

Zebari said a meeting between Maliki and Turkish President Abdullah Gul had almost materialized in Cairo, but was scuppered at the last minute.

Asked whether improved relations between Ankara and Baghdad would come at Kurdistan’s expense, Zebari said: “No … as long as they are working and dealing within the Iraqi legal framework and constitution, it shouldn’t be affected.”

(Reporting by Raheem Salman in Baghdad, Isabel Coles in Arbil; Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun in Ankara; editing by Mike Collett-White)

via Iraq PM softens tone on Turkey, says rapprochement welcome | Reuters.

April 6, 2013