Turkish Forum

Category: America

  • Turkey and Israel by Abraham Foxman

    Turkey and Israel by Abraham Foxman

    Strained Relations between Israel and Turkey Undermines Bridge Between West and Muslim World

    Abraham Foxman June 21st 2010

    Cutting Edge commentator

    These are sad times indeed for those with a strong attachment to Israel, and an equal and longstanding respect for Turkey. The unique relationship shared by these two countries, down through history and into the present, is being undermined in a stormy environment of disagreement, and charged rhetoric.

    We need not go into a rehash of the much-discussed events and the diplomatic rows that brought us to this pass. The strongly critical remarks by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, first at Davos in response to Israel’s December 2008 invasion of Gaza, and more recently over the flotilla episode and the deaths of nine Turkish activists aboard the Mavi Marmara, have cast a deep pall over the Israeli-Turkish relationship.

    The echoes of Davos and the flotilla affair seem to be prevailing over calm heads and good will, and we can only wonder, why?

    Sadly, an historic era of cooperation may be slipping away, as Turkey appears on the verge of abandoning a role it so proudly played as a bridge between the Muslim world and the West. The inter-governmental and people-to-people relationships are fraying, and the tangible benefits they have brought to both sides are at serious risk.

    This is a shared history based on mutual interests and concerns. In March 1949, Turkey became the first Muslim state to recognize Israel, and in 1958, Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion met in secret to sign a military and intelligence cooperation agreement. Ben-Gurion later wrote to President Dwight D. Eisenhower that Israel’s “links with the Government of Turkey have grown more intimate in secret channels.”

    Turkish-Israeli relations have always had ups and downs. Yet, until recently, the unmistakable trend for the prior two decades was growing trade and investment, more cultural exchanges, increased tourism, ever greater military and intelligence cooperation and more frequent political meetings.

    The relationship was much more than strategic. Both Israeli and Turkish societies benefited from close ties that transcended the politics of the moment. Israelis found in Turkey a beautiful country for vacations and struck up close friendships in Turkey. After a disastrous earthquake struck Turkey in 1999, Israel was one of the first countries to extend emergency assistance by sending sophisticated equipment and search and rescue crews. The Israeli public launched a spontaneous campaign to assist the victims, as thousands of Israelis stood in line across the country to donate more than 25 tons blankets, clothing and food.

    There was also the memory of history. Turkey, and the Ottoman Empire that preceded it, served as a safe haven for Jews, from the time of the expulsion from Spain and Portugal and into the Holocaust years. And Turkey’s protection of its own minority Jewish community was admirable and unique among the nations – and particularly in the aftermath of the 2003 bombing of two synagogues in Istanbul, when Turkish leaders stood up to publicly decry anti-Semitism.

    Until recently, Turkey was held up as proof that a Muslim-majority country could have warm and significant relations with the Jewish state. Turkey now seems to shun that globally important role.

    Today, the relationship is in steep decline. Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu compared the Gaza flotilla incident to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel, and President Abdullah Gul has left open the possibility of breaking off relations altogether.

    Israeli tourism to Turkey has plummeted, and Israeli supermarkets are boycotting Turkish products. Turkey has cancelled joint military exercises. Israel and Turkey have clashed over policies toward Iran, Hamas, and Syria. Erdogan is reported to have angrily proclaimed in public remarks that the Star of David is the same as the Nazi swastika. A Turkish delegation of teachers and scholars, scheduled to participate in an event at Yad Vashem on the lessons of the Holocaust, failed to show.

    Beyond the bilateral relationship, Turkey is in the process of losing other roles and friends. For many years, Turkey has sought to leverage its geographic linking of the Middle East and Europe to create connections between different religions and cultures. Today, however, its rapprochement with Iran, Hamas, and Syria generates doubts, not confidence, in the U.S. and elsewhere.

    The American Jewish community has long been supportive of Turkish interests in the United States, as a NATO ally and based on its strategic relationship with Israel, a premise that many politically active Jewish organizations may have to revisit.

    Turkey, Israel and the international community would benefit from a reversal of this downward spiral. An investigation into the flotilla affair with international observers has been commissioned by Israel, and hopefully it will provide a base from which to rebuild the relationship. Until then, both Israelis and Turks should exercise care with their rhetoric and their actions.

    However, should that investigation uncover Turkish government involvement with Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), the Istanbul-based charity that was one of the major sponsors the Free Gaza flotilla, and its preparations for violently confronting Israeli solders – as some information now suggests – the report could be the death knell for rebuilding the relationship.

    Hopefully, what we are seeing today from Turkey is a temporary detour from the path it has pursued so successfully for years. Hopefully, the friendship we had come to know and to rely on will re-emerge.

    Hopefully, the instincts of the Turkish people that wrote a magnificent chapter in Jewish history more than 500 years ago as a haven and refuge for those expelled from Spain will bring Turkey back from the brink.

    Then we will be able to continue to celebrate our long-held affection and respect for Turkey.

    Cutting Edge commentator Abraham H. Foxman is National Director of the Anti-Defamation League and author of “The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control.”

    http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=12293

  • BP was told of oil safety fault ‘weeks before blast’

    BP was told of oil safety fault ‘weeks before blast’

    A Deepwater Horizon rig worker has told the BBC that he identified a leak in the oil rig’s safety equipment weeks before the explosion.

    Tyrone Benton said the leak was not fixed at the time, but that instead the faulty device was shut down and a second one relied on.

    BP said rig owners Transocean were responsible for the operation and maintenance of that piece of equipment.

    Transocean said it tested the device successfully before the accident.

    Meanwhile, BP has said that its costs in tackling the disaster have now risen to $2bn (£1.34bn).

    ‘Graphic

    ‘Unacceptable

    On 20 April, when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded killing 11 people, the blowout preventer, as the device is known, failed.

    The most critical piece of safety equipment on the rig, they are designed to avert disasters just like the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

    The blowout preventer (BOP) has giant shears which are designed to cut and seal off the well’s main pipe. The control pods are effectively the brains of the blowout preventer and contain both electronics and hydraulics. This is where Mr Benton said the problem was found.

    “We saw a leak on the pod, so by seeing the leak we informed the company men,” Mr Benton said of the earlier problem he had identified. “They have a control room where they could turn off that pod and turn on the other one, so that they don’t have to stop production.”

    Professor Tad Patzek, petroleum expert at the University of Texas, was blunt in his assessment: “That is unacceptable. If you see any evidence of the blowout preventer not functioning properly, you should fix it by whatever means possible.”

    Mr Benton said his supervisor e-mailed both BP and Transocean about the leaks when they were discovered.

    Daily costs

    He said he did not know whether the leaking pod was turned back on before the disaster or not.

    He said to repair the control pod would have meant temporarily stopping drilling work on the rig at at time when it was costing BP $500,000 (£337,000) a day to operate the Deepwater Horizon.

    Henry Waxman, a House of Representatives Democrat who is overseeing congressional investigations into the rig disaster, has accused BP of taking safety shortcuts to save money.

    “BP appears to have made multiple decisions for economic reasons that increased the danger of a catastrophic well failure,” Mr Waxman said.

    BP chief executive Tony Hayward, giving evidence to Congress, said: “There is nothing I have seen in the evidence so far that suggests that anyone put cost ahead of safety, if there are then we will take action.”

    Congress has identified numerous other problems with the blowout preventer, including design problems, unexpected modifications and a flat battery.

    Cement job

    The other major problems on the rig, Congress has said, centred around the cement job. Cement in an oil well blocks explosive gases from escaping, and it appears the cement may not have set properly on the Deepwater Horizon.

    BP said it had indications of a successful cementing operation and the company that was in charge of the cement job, Halliburton, has said it was consistent with that used in similar applications.

    Several rig workers the BBC spoke to who were on the Deepwater Horizon said there was pressure in April to work fast.

    Work to prepare and then seal the well was behind schedule and had to be completed before a production rig could move in and start turning profits.

    “Too many jobs were being done at one time. It should have just really slowed down and just took one job at a time, to make sure everything was done the way it should have been,” said Mr Benton, who is now suing BP and Transocean for negligence.

    BP has responded to Mr Benton’s account saying Transocean was responsible for both the maintenance and operation of the blowout preventer.

    Graphic

    BBC

  • “ERDOGAN DE GAULLES”ÜN AYAK IZINDE”

    “ERDOGAN DE GAULLES”ÜN AYAK IZINDE”

    Büyük elcilik yapmis ve su anda da Israil”in dis siyasetinin akil hocaligini yapan Sayin Avi Primor”un

    “ERDOGAN DE GAULLES”ÜN IZINDE”

    basligini tasiyan yazisi, kraldan cok kralci kesilen irkci/seriatci iIsrail HÜKÜMETININ ve Türkiyedeki “taraftarlarini”
    cok kizdiracaga benziyor.

    Frankfurter Rundschau gazetesi Almanya”da sosyal demokratlara yakin bir gazetedir.

    iyi günler dileklerimle

    Refik Mor

    Avi Primor (Bild: FR)

    http://www.fr-online.de/in_und_ausland/politik/meinung/2753641_Erdogan-in-de-Gaulles-Fussstapfen.html

    Erdogan in de Gaulles Fußstapfen

    FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU
    20 Juni 2010
    Kolumne

    Weltweit stellt man sich verzweifelt die Frage, was Recep Tayyip Erdogan wohl möchte und wohin er die Türkei führen wird. Dies angesichts der Tatsache, dass Erdogan ein gläubiger Moslem ist und sich zunehmend mit den moslemischen Nachbarn verbündet.

    Bislang hat Erdogan aus der Türkei keine fundamentalistische Diktatur gemacht. Seit er das Amt des Ministerpräsidenten übernommen hat, ist die Türkei eher demokratischer geworden. Die Grundlagen der kemalistischen Republik bleiben bestehen, wobei die Möglichkeiten der Armee, sich in die Politik einzumischen, erheblich geschmälert wurden. Der Dialog mit den Minderheiten in der Türkei wird wahrgenommen, und Parlamentarismus, Meinungs- und Medienfreiheit wie auch der Status des Obersten Gerichtshofs bleiben unverändert erhalten.
    Mit den Nachbarn – den moslemischen Republiken der ehemaligen Sowjetunion, dem Irak, aber auch mit Syrien und vor allem mit dem Iran – haben sich die türkischen Beziehungen in Sachfragen sehr vertieft. Mit Israel gibt es Turbulenzen, und die Amerikaner sind verärgert, weil die Türkei im UN-Sicherheitsrat gegen das Iran-Sanktionenprogramm gestimmt hat.

    Es gibt den Präzedenzfall eines wichtigen Mitglieds der westlichen Allianz, das den Amerikanern ähnliche Sorgen bereitet hat. Das war Charles de Gaulle in den 1960er Jahren. Der französische Präsident hat damals Rotchina anerkannt, mit den Südamerikanern gegen die USA geflirtet und vor allem seine Bindung zur Nato gelockert. Er hat dennoch seine grundsätzliche und tiefsitzende, nicht zuletzt ideologische Verbindung zu den westlichen Demokratien nie infrage gestellt. Er wollte kein Vasall der Amerikaner, sondern ein ebenbürtiger Partner sein. Dazu brauchte er auch selbstständig geknüpfte Verbindungen zu der kommunistischen und der Dritten Welt. Damit wollte de Gaulle den Amerikanern gegenüber mehr Gewicht gewinnen. Die Beziehungen zu Israel hat er weitgehend parallel zu den Beziehungen zur arabischen Welt entwickelt und erst am Vorabend des Sechstagekriegs zugunsten der arabischen Länder gelockert.

    Auch Erdogan und seine Türkei bleiben grundsätzlich mit der westlichen Welt wie auch mit der Nato verbunden. Die Beziehungen zu ihren Nachbarn sollen – abgesehen von bilateralen Interessen – der Türkei zunehmend Selbstständigkeit und infolgedessen mehr Gewicht in ihren Beziehungen zum Westen verschaffen. Auch die Beziehungen zu Israel sind wichtig, vor allem, solange sie parallele Beziehungen zur arabischen Welt nicht behindern.

    Wegen der Verschlechterung der Friedenschancen zwischen Israel und den Palästinensern wie auch zwischen Israel und Syrien ist es seit ein paar Jahren für die Türkei jedoch zunehmend schwieriger geworden, die Politik der parallelen Beziehungen aufrechtzuerhalten. Das schlägt dann zugunsten der Beziehungen zur islamischen Welt aus. Bislang vermied Erdogan jedoch, die Grundlagen der gegenseitigen Interessen der beiden Länder zu schädigen. Das heißt, dass die Entwicklung eines Friedensprozesses zwischen Israel und seinen Nachbarn auch die Wiederherstellung guter türkisch-israelischer Beziehungen fördern könnte. Die Türkei ist also weder für den Westen noch für Israel verloren.

    Avi Primor ist Präsident der Israelischen Gesellschaft für Außenpolitik und war Botschafter Israels in Deutschland.

  • Armada Of U.S. And Israeli Warships Head For Iran

    Armada Of U.S. And Israeli Warships Head For Iran

    Kurt Nimmo
    Infowars.com
    June 19, 2010

    aircraftcarrier.jpg

    More than twelve U.S. and Israeli warships, including an aircraft carrier, passed through the Suez Canal on Friday and are headed for the Red Sea. “According to eyewitnesses, the U.S. battleships were the largest to have crossed the Canal in many years,” reported the London-based newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi on Saturday.

    The Israeli newspaperHaaretz reported Egyptian opposition members criticized the government for cooperating with the U.S. and Israeli forces and allowing the passage of the ships through Egyptian territorial waters. The Red Sea is the most direct route to the Persian Gulf from the Mediterranean.

    Retired Egyptian General Amin Radi, chairman of the national security affairs committee, told the paper that “the decision to declare war on Iran is not easy, and Israel, due to its wild nature, may start a war just to remain the sole nuclear power in the region,” according to Yedioth Internet, an Israeli news site.

    The passage of a warship armada through the Suez Canal and headed for the Persian Gulf and Iran is apparently not deemed important enough to be reported by the corporate media in the United States.

    Egypt recently rejected an Israeli request to prevent Gaza aid ships from passing through the Suez Canal. According to a report by al-Jazeera, Israel appealed to Egyptians asking them to prevent the passage of Iranian ships through the Suez Canal. The Egyptians responded that due to international agreements on movement through the Suez Canal, Egypt cannot prevent ships from passing through the canal unless a ship belongs to a state that is at war with Egypt. Iran and Egypt are not at war.

    The United States and Israel, the sole nuclear-armed power in the Middle East, have not ruled out a military strike to destroy Iran’s nuclear program.

    A number of Israeli politicians and scholars have admitted Israel has used its nuclear weapons for “compellent purposes,” in short forcing others to accept Israeli political demands.

    Israel’s threats to use nuclear weapons have increased significantly since it was discovered in 2002 that Iran was building uranium enrichment facilities. Israel’s former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon “called on the international community to target Iran as soon as the imminent conflict with Iraq is complete,” the Sunday Times reported on November 5, 2002. The United States invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003.

    Earlier this month Israel leaked to the press that they had permission from Saudi Arabia to use their air space to attack Iran. “In the week that the UN Security Council imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran, defence sources in the Gulf say that Riyadh has agreed to allow Israel to use a narrow corridor of its airspace in the north of the country to shorten the distance for a bombing run on Iran,” the Sunday Times reported on June 12. On June 14, the ambassador of Saudi Arabia to UK Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf issued a categorical denial of the report.

    On June 17, Iran’s parliament warned it will respond in kind to inspection of its ships under a fourth round of sanctions imposed on the country by the UN Security Council. “Even if one Iranian ship is stopped for security-check, we will act likewise and thoroughly inspect any (western) ship passing through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz,” member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Hossein Ebrahimi said.

    Also on Saturday, Iran accused the United States of “deception” and insisted its missile program is for self-defense after a top U.S. official claimed that Iran had the capacity to attack Europe. “The Islamic Republic’s missile capability has been designed and implemented to defend against any military aggression and it does not threaten any nation,” Defense MinisterAhmad Vahidi said in a statement carried by state media.

    Vahidi announced on April 10 that Iran will use all available options to defend itself if the country comes under a military attack. “Americans have said they will use all options against Iran, we announce that we will use all options to defend ourselves,” Vahidi told the Tehran Times.

    Info Wars

  • U.S. Jewish groups skip meet with Turkish officials

    U.S. Jewish groups skip meet with Turkish officials

    ADL National Director Abraham Foxman says ‘there comes a point at which it becomes useless to have a conversation.’

    By Natasha Mozgovaya

    On the fringes of the Washington meetings of Turkish official delegations, there is usually a special place for outreach with the American Jewish community. But several Jewish groups intend to skip the meeting Wednesday evening with members of the Turkish ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party). The America Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC), B’nai Brith International and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) have decided to decline the invitation to protest the deteriorating relations between Ankara and Jerusalem.

    Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League. Photo by: Haaretz

    Ties between Israel and Turkey have been in decline since Israel launched a three-week military operation in Gaza in December 2008, aimed at halting rocket fire on its southern communities. Tensions between the two formerly strong allies were exacerbated when nine people were killed during violent clashes with Israeli troops aboard a ship carrying aid to Gaza.

    “I believe in dialogue and meetings but there is a point at which it becomes useless to have a conversation,” ADL National Director Abraham Foxman told Haaretz on Wednesday.

    “You can disagree with Israeli government and its policies but why should you cancel visit of Turkish teachers and scholars to Yad Vashem [Israel’s national Holocaust memorial]? I read that the prime minister of Turkey compared the Star of David to a swastika – it’s ugly and anti-Semitic, it’s what our enemies did. So ‘yesh gvul [there’s a limit].”

    Foxman said that he would be happy to resume the outreach meetings once the Turkish government restored ties with Israel.

    “Let them first reconcile with Israeli government, and them I’ll be delighted to talk to them,” he said. “But at the moment they’ve decided to use Israel as a whipping boy and provoke negative attitudes in Israel”

    The American Jewish Committee (AJC), however, decided to attend the meeting, believing that traditional ties should not be abandoned hastily.

    “We’ve had an increasingly rough dialogue with leaders in Turkey, but we believe that we want to take an opportunity to deliver a tough message”, AJC spokeswoman Alex Weininger told Haaretz. “There is a history of relations between the U.S. and Turkey and Israel and it shouldn’t be easily discarded.”

    Turkey was also the subject of strong words from Congress on Wednesday, at a bipartisan press conference on the Hill in support of Israel’s right to defend itself.
    Rep. Mike Pence (R-Indiana) warned Ankara that “There will be a cost” if Turkey keeps on its current course of “growing closer to Iran and more antagonistic to the State of Israel”.

    Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nevada) added that, “If Israel is at fault in any way, it is for falling into the trap that was set for them by Turkey. The Turks have extraordinary nerve to lecture the State of Israel, when they are occupiers of the island of Cyprus, where they systematically discriminate against the ecumenical patriarch, and they refuse to recognize Armenian genocide. And this is the country that not only funded but sanctioned the flotilla. They did not do this for humanitarian reasons. They did this to provoke an international confrontation. As far as I’m concerned, Turkey is responsible for the nine deaths aboard that ship. It is not Israel that is responsible. Israel’s troops were attacked”.

    A letter currently circulating these days on the Hill in support of Israel in the wake of the flotilla raid has now provoked another letter, by the J Street organization, urging Congressmen not to rush to sign the original letter of support.

    “The blockade of Gaza was instituted to stop terrorists from smuggling weapons into Gaza to murder innocent civilians,” said the first petition. “The several dozen who attacked the Israeli soldiers were not peaceful aid workers, but extremists who sought to aid the Iran-backed terrorist Hamas regime in Gaza. The U.S. should make every effort to thwart international condemnation and focus the international community on the crimes of the Iran-backed Hamas leadership against Israel and the Palestinian people”.

    J Street has urged Congressmen not to sign the letter, saying it is counterproductive and does not deal with the issue of the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.

    “J Street – the pro-Israel, pro-peace lobby – is not supporting sign-on letters to the President now circulating in the [House] regarding the Gaza flotilla,” wrote J-Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami.

    “As is far too often the case, these letters have been drafted primarily for domestic political consumption rather than to advance the U.S. interest in peace and security in the Middle East. With tensions in the region already high and vital American and Israeli interests at stake, J Street urges members of Congress to seek changes to the letters currently circulating before signing – or to write their own.

    “The petitions now circulating in the House and Senate, while expressing strong American support for Israel – a position we endorse – fail to address the impact of the present closure of Gaza on the civilian population, the deep American interest in resolving this conflict diplomatically, or the urgency of moving forward with diplomacy before it is too late”.

    Meanwhile, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations has urged lawmakers to sign the petition. The organization’s vice-chairman Malcolm Hoenlein told Haaretz that his organization was not scheduled to take part in a meeting of Jewish leaders with Turkish lawmakers, but added that it is “clearly not the right time for a constructive dialogue.”

    www.haaretz.com, 17.06.10

  • Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in İstanbul, June 15,2010

    Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in İstanbul, June 15,2010


    Thomas Friedman, the three time Pulitzer prize winner, author of many books, reseracher and a columnist at the New York Times, spoke to over 600 people at Fuji Ballroom, Bosphorous Swiss Hotel on June 15, Tuesday. The topic was his latest book ‘’Hot, Flat and Crowded.’’ The audience included students from Ozyegin University, members of Turkish universities, ordinary folks and media representatives. The occasion was the introduction of Ozyegin University’s ‘’Research@Ozyegin’’ program. Mr. Husnu Ozyegin, the founder of  the new Ozyegin University and the great Turkish writer Yasar Kemal and his wife were among the many dignitaries. Yasar Kemal stated that he came to listen to what Friedman had to say.

    Prof. Erhan Erkut, the Rector of Oztegin University spoke first and presented information about the university which opened its doors last year. Many of its teaching staff have been recruited from foreign universities, 60 % of them from the top 100 universities, boasting on reverese brain drain. The university has several research centers, including Center for Energy, Envirenment, and Economy. Prof. Dr. Sirin Tekinay, the Asst. Rector, introduced Thomas Friedman, who s considered as the most widely read columnist in the world.

    Friedman presented ideas from his book which covers many subjects but the trust was green energy and natural resources. Friedman made references to America’s share in energy, which he said is the highest in the world, with usage of over 25% although its population is only 300 million. He said that everyone in the world wants to live like Americans, prompting a remark that God did not create the world fort this many Americans.

    Friedman discussed five issues, presented on the video screen:

    1. Energy and Natural Resources
    2. Petrodictatorship
    3. Climate Change
    4. Energy Poverty
    5. Biodiversity Loss

    He told us that many people in the world now have a higher living standard which requires more and more of everything. The population of the world which was 1.8 billion in 1830 has increased to 6.3 billion now and is expected to reach 9.2 billion by 2050. He described the developments over the years with a graph, one showing the price of oil and the other significant world events. In 1997, when the price of oil wass a little over $16 a barrel, Hatemi of Iran called for Dialogue of Civilisation. In 2005, when the oil price increased, Iran called for he destruction of Israel. Friedman also commented that he is worried about America.

    Friedman spoke for over one and a half hour, with dramatic gestures and many anecdotes. Several people asked questions which Friedman answered. If there would have been enoght time, I would have told him about Stephen Kinzer and asked him if he thought that America or Israel would bomb Iran someday, since this is the hottest subject now.

    Mr. Stephen Kinzer, Eat Your Heart Out

    Just about the same time that Friedman was reading passages from his book, Stephen Kinzer, the former head of the NY Times Bureau in İstanbul from 2000 to2004, was introducing his latest book  to Turkish – Americans in Washington DC. The book, Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America’s Future’’ has been released on June 8, 2010 by Times Book. There was a huge crowd in front of the Fuji ballroom where close to a thousand copies of Friedman’s books, both in English and Turkish, were on sale, Friedman happily signing them both before and after his presentation. I saw one young man walk away with four of his books. Stephen Kinzer comes to İstanbul often and makes presentations, with probably one in the works for presenting his latest book,

    During a brief chat afer the presentation, I asked Friedman if he had been to Turkey before. He said, ‘’Yes many times’’ but the last time was in 2005.  He added that he loved Turkey. The presentation was strictly on his book without any reference to the Palestine issue, the Gazze Tragedy or the nuclear issue with Iran which he wrote about in his article, ‘’As Ugly as It Gets’’, referring to the May 17 picture of Iran’s president joining Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva and the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan.

    Ozyegin University is to be commended for an interesting presentation.

    Yuksel Oktay

    16 June 2010

    Istanbul