Tag: Avigdor Lieberman

  • US put pressure on Azerbaijan by «Armenian genocide»

    US put pressure on Azerbaijan by «Armenian genocide»

     

     

    армяно турецкие протоколы

     

     

    Gulnara Inanch,

    Director of Information and Analytical Center Etnoglobus (ethnoglobus.az),

    editor of Russian section of  Turkishnews American-Turkish Resource website www.turkishnews.com  ,

    Mete62@inbox.ru

     

    According to BBC, a group of former and present high ranking officials of the US Administration has called the presidential administration to put pressure over the sides for implementation of protocols signed betweenTurkeyandArmeniain 2009. FormerUSSecretary of State Madeleine Albright in her statement before the US Council on Foreign relations said that implementation of the mentioned protocols would serve for improvement of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

     

    However, while speaking of the very issue in her visit toArmenia, US present Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insisted that initial unconditional dialog betweenTurkeyandArmeniawould not have any impact upon Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

     

    Contradiction between the statements of the present Secretary of  State Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright, who, despite, is not in power but preserved her reputation, is the reflection of US view with regards to the issue.

     

     

    As you see, White House tries to pull out “Armenian genocide” issue from connection with Azerbaijanby strengthening their attempts to make Turkeyrestore negotiations withArmenia. Because, in order to force Turkey to come to the negotiations without any precondition agreement of officialBakuis required.  Statement of  Hillary Clinton that Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict has no connection with Turkish-Armenian relations proves it.

     

    Therefore,Washingtontries to persuade Turkey that opening of  borders between Turkey and Armenia will cause Armenia to compromise in Nagorno-Karabakh issue. On the other hand, as recognition of “Armenian genocide” is a principal issue for Azerbaijan along with Turkey, it is used as pressure object to Baku and Ankara.

     

    The fact that “Armenian genocide” was the focus of attention again in Israel Knesset on June 12, it should be considered as pressure tool over Turkey and Azerbaijan. It is again proved by the report recently made by Madeline Albright together with former US president George Bush’s national security advisor Steven Hadley where this subject was the focus of attention as well. According to that report, establishment of good relations withIsrael by Turkey will lead to earning support of  US Jewish society which will support Turkey to avoid discussion of “Armenian genocide” as in previous years. Israel Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, who seeks for strategic cooperation policy with official Baku, said that this issue wouldn’t be discussed for the sake of strategic cooperation with Azerbaijanwhen “Armenian genocide” was focus of attention in Israel Knesset. Israel media that are close to state and power bodies has been asked to be attentive in the sensible issues related to Azerbaijan. Being attentive we can see that Israel media pretext not to see that “Armenian genocide” is brought to focus of attention in Israel Knesset.

     

    Israel is Our Home (IOH) party head secretary Faina Kirschenbaum, Members of Knesset said that IOH – Kadima block would try to avoid discussions of “Armenian genocide” which is brought to focus of attention by the pressure of Israel Armenian church.

     

    But the point is that some Israel politicians and public figures think that the “Armenian genocide” is the issue between Armenia and Turkey and it has nothing with Azerbaijan, especially with Nagorno-Karabakh. Therefore, in order to satisfy society and Jewish lobby, “Armenian genocide” is brought to focus of attention in the Israel Knesset.

     

    Since “Armenian genocide” is the tool of political speculation, attempts by Israel officials to close the subject for the sake of cooperation with Azerbaijan will be temporary and it is expected to be used for the purpose of mollifying Turkey and Azerbaijan.

     

    As we remember, along with speculations around adoption of the law prohibiting denial of “Armenian genocide” in French Senate, “genocide” issue was also brought to the focus of attention in Israel Knesset.

     

    The fact that discussion of “genocide” issue in Knesset is due on June 18, on the eve of meeting between Azerbaijan and Armenian Foreign Ministers in France, is the another proof that this is the pressure method on Azerbaijan during negotiations.

     

    Source New Baku Post (bakupost.az)

  • Israeli ministers divided over defense exports to Turkey

    Israeli ministers divided over defense exports to Turkey

    Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is reportedly blocking the sale of Israeli-made defense products to Turkey despite recently intensified efforts to get the two countries to reconcile.

    Israeli Foriegn Minister Avigdor Lieberman (L) and Defense Minister Ehud Barak (2nd from L) attend the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R).
    Israeli Foriegn Minister Avigdor Lieberman (L) and Defense Minister Ehud Barak (2nd from L) attend the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R).

    The Israeli Defense Ministry is trying to re-launch the export of defense products to Turkey as part of an attempt to rescue once good ties the two countries enjoyed in the region for decades, but Lieberman, one of the most adamant opponents to Turkish-Israeli rapprochement, is blocking the sale.

    The Jerusalem Post claimed on Tuesday that Lieberman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are at odds over whether Israel should renew defense exports to Turkey, Israeli defense officials informed. The total estimated value of the current military contracts that Turkey has awarded to Israeli companies amounts to $1.8 billion. This figure comprises a significant amount of the two nations’ total annual trade volume of $2.6 billion.

    Turkey had cancelled dozens of military agreements, war games and military projects with Israel following a lethal Israeli raid of the Mavi Marmara in May of last year; the ship was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza to breach an Israeli naval blockade.

    According to the report, a department within the Israeli Defense Ministry department, the Export Licensing Authority (API), operates in cooperation with the Israeli Foreign Ministry, consulting on all sensitive arms deals. “There is a fundamental disagreement over whether Israel should sell military platforms to Turkey or not,” an Israeli official told the Jerusalem Post on Monday.

    In May 2007, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Israel, which was returned with a visit by Israeli President Shimon Peres in November of that year. After the two visits, Turkey awarded Israel $700 million in projects, involving tank modernization and the modernization of 48 warplanes and 300 helicopters. In its latest agreement with Israel, Turkey bought 10 unmanned Heron air vehicles; however, there has been a major delay in Israel’s delivery of the Herons, only adding to the problems of the M-60 tender. The Herons, which were initially promised for May 2008, were finally delivered late in 2009.

    Officials said the primary reason behind Barak’s support is the need to repair ties with Turkey, which has helped Israel in preventing a new flotilla of ships — currently stuck in Greece — from sailing to the Gaza Strip. Barak, who has been touted as the most pro-Turkish minister in the current Israeli coalition government, said on Monday that “reconciliation with Turkey is drawing near” and that Israel is very interested in “putting the past behind us” in the hope of mending the rift with Turkey.

    via Israeli ministers divided over defense exports to Turkey.

  • Interview with Israeli FM Avigdor Liberman

    Interview with Israeli FM Avigdor Liberman

    Interview with Israeli FM Avigdor Liberman on Reka Radio (Russian)

    Under no conditions or provocations can any flotilla or ship harm our
    country’s political independence and reach the Gaza Strip.
    (Translation by Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

    INTERVIEWER: Despite Nicosia’s warning, the Lebanese ship with 60 women on board – Lebanese, Palestinian and European activists – will set sail on
    Sunday, August 22, with the infamous mission of trying to breach the naval
    blockade on the Gaza Strip. And the Cyprus authorities have unequivocally declared they will not allow the ship to enter Cyprus’s territorial waters and will turn the ship away as soon as it approaches its shores. Mr. Minister, is this declaration the result of Cyprus’s policy or an achievement by Israel’s foreign policy?

    FM LIBERMAN: This declaration is without a doubt part of the new relations between us and Cyprus. It reflects our new approach of a multilateral policy. Suffice it to say that over the past year and a half I met with Cyprus’s foreign minister on six occasions, including twice when he visited Israel and on my visit to Cyprus. Our ministers of tourism and social affairs also paid visits. In the autumn, the president of Cyprus is scheduled to make the first ever visit to the State of Israel. In general, this entire spectrum: the Middle East and Balkan states, meaning Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania – all these are countries with which we are developing especially close ties. It’s no secret, I paid my visits and just recently the prime minister of Greece visited here, and President Peres visited Bulgaria and Romania. So despite the relative deterioration in our relations with Turkey, we do have other alternatives.

    INTERVIEWER: In other words, Israel’s handprint, in the positive sense of
    the word, is today being made in many places, including in Cyprus. Is Israel
    ready for the next wave of history, which will take place after the women
    equipped with medicine for suffering Palestinian cancer patients are
    prevented from reaching Gaza?

    FM LIBERMAN: I hope we do indeed succeed in foiling this next flotilla while
    it is still in Cyprus. However part of Cyprus is Turkish, so there’s a
    chance they will use
    Famagusta port, where we have a lot less influence.
    If they anchor in Limassol, they probably won’t be able to sail out of there. At any rate, our position is absolutely clear and firm – under no conditions or provocations can any flotilla or ship harm our country’s political independence and reach the Gaza Strip.

    INTERVIEWER: There is another interesting angle here. The Lebanese prime
    minister and chairman of parliament have refused to make any kind of
    statement in support of the actions of the new “peace-loving” ship. Samar
    Ali Hajj, one of the woman organizers of the voyage, reported that the two
    refused to meet with her. This refusal indicates that Beirut officially does
    not support this action. Again, is this about Israeli pressure or a natural
    lack of desire to support.

    FM LIBERMAN: This is partly our doing. We indirectly contacted members of
    the Quartet – France, the United States, and the other members. We appealed
    to the president of France, who has great influence in Lebanon. Of course we
    also contacted the State Department and the UN secretary-general. Lebanon
    must understand that it will bear the full brunt of responsibility for this
    kind of provocation. I suppose they understand it even without our
    explanations. So under no circumstances do they want to bring on a new round of escalation in the relations between our two countries. In my humble opinion, their position is clear, simple and logical.

    INTERVIEWER: The humanitarian activity is not limited to the “Mariam”.
    Another ship, carrying 60 containers of foodstuffs, office equipment and
    other things, departed on Wednesday evening from Algeria en route to Egypt
    and from there to the Gaza Strip. Is this more complex and more volatile?

    FM LIBERMAN: We hope this ship will reach El Arish port, where the entire
    cargo will be unloaded; and then from there, in the usual manner, under
    strict observance of all the inspection rules, the cargo will be transferred
    to the Gaza Strip. That was the case with the ship from Libya that, in an
    identical manner.

    INTERVIEWER: So you don’t expect any special complications here.

    FM LIBERMAN: We hope there won’t be any attempts to breach the blockade –
    namely to sail towards El Arish and then suddenly change course and try to
    breach the naval blockade on Gaza.

    , 23 August 2010

  • Missteps on Turkey weaken Netanyahu before talks with Obama

    Missteps on Turkey weaken Netanyahu before talks with Obama

    Netanyahu and Barak
    Whispers no cure for voluble Turkish assaults

    DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis

    The “Turkish flotilla effect” continues to plague Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, leading him into one misstep after another with the result that he arrives in Washington on July 6 for talks with President Barack Obama with a divided government.

    DEBKAfile’s Jerusalem sources report that Thursday, July 1 finds Netanyahu scrambling to stabilize his cabinet lineup and recover from the fallout of his disastrous decision to let infrastructure minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer meet Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu for supposedly secret talks in Brussels to try and narrow the widening rift between Ankara and Jerusalem.
    It was leaked that same day, causing a huge uproar in Jerusalem – both because the initiative which failed was seen to be a crass error at a time that the Turkish prime minister Recep Erdogan’s anti-Israel campaign was in full flight, and because the prime minister neglected to update foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman of the event.

    Lieberman, who heads the right-wing Israel Beitenu, publicly accused Netanyahu of breach of trust. All day Thursday, he refused to answer the prime minister’s phone calls. The result: total disconnect between the head of government and his foreign minister less than a week before the Israeli prime minister meets the US president.

    Another key member of the Netanyahu cabinet, defense minister Ehud Barak, leader of the Labor party, is suspected by broad political circles of engineering the Israeli minister’s rendezvous with Davutoglu – not just for a reckless bid to melt the Turkish wall of hostility, but to edge the foreign minister and his party out of the government coalition.

    He has denied this charge – according to DEBKAfile’s sources, to avoid being associated with a second fiasco after the fumbled Israeli commando raid of the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship heading for Gaza on May 31.

    The defense minister understands that his complicity in the Brussels encounter could weigh against him when he testifies before the public inquiry commission Israel established to find out how the flotilla incident came to end with nine Turkish activists dead and six Israeli soldiers injured.
    Its findings could damage Barak’s career irretrievably.

    The panel, headed by ex-justice Jacob Turkel with two foreign observers, is to be given a broader mandate and real teeth.

    Instead of preparing calmly for a hardheaded discussion with the US president on a long list of tough issues, Netanyahu must now concentrate all his efforts on hauling his government coalition out of a morass. It is hard to see him managing this uphill job in the four days left before he boards a flight to Washington. He will therefore arrive at the White House with his government in disarray and his personal standing uncertain.

    In Ankara, DEBKAfile reports, the Turkish prime minister is gleefully capitalizing on Netanyahu’s embarrassment to pour salt in his wounds. He has issued “a clarification” of his comment on June 20, when he said, “Everyone knows who is behind the (Kurdish rebel) PKK’s terror attacks.”

    This comment was taken as a heavy hint referring to Israeli intelligence.
    However, ten days later, on Wednesday, June 30, the Turkish prime minister “clarified” this comment by explaining he had been referring to a group of right-wing Turkish military officers and politicians, known as Ergenekon, who are facing trial for attempting to overthrow the government by means of armed and terrorist attacks.

    On the face of it, the Turkish prime minister backtracked on his aspersions of Israeli involvement in PKK attacks – or so it sounded to some Western circles. However, seasoned Turkey watchers point out that the prime minister’s aides have for months been spreading rumors that Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency was behind Ergenekon, fed the anti-government generals intelligence and supplied them with weapons for their planned coup.

    In other words, Erdogan has stepped up his smear campaign against Israel from vague insinuations of its complicity in Kurdish terrorism to snide allegations of Jerusalem’s involvement in a subversive conspiracy to overthrow the Muslim-led government in Ankara.

    , July 1, 2010

  • ‘Iran is our friend,’ says Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan

    ‘Iran is our friend,’ says Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan

    • We have no difficulty with Ahmadinejad – Erdogan
    • Warning to Europe not to ignore Turkey’s strengths

    A13With its stunning vistas and former Ottoman palaces, the banks of the Bosphorus – the strategic waterway that cuts Istanbul in half and divides Europe from Asia – may be the perfect place to distinguish friend from foe and establish where your country’s interests lie.

    And sitting in his grandiose headquarters beside the strait, long the symbol of Turkey‘s supposed role as bridge between east and west, Recep Tayyip Erdogan had little doubt about who was a friend and who wasn’t.

    Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran‘s radical president whose fiery rhetoric has made him a bête noire of the west? “There is no doubt he is our friend,” said Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister for the last six years. “As a friend so far we have very good relations and have had no difficulty at all.”

    What about Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France, who has led European opposition to Turkey’s bid to join the EU and, coincidentally, adopted a belligerent tone towards Iran’s nuclear programme? Not a friend?

    “Among leaders in Europe there are those who have prejudices against Turkey, like France and Germany. Previously under Mr Chirac, we had excellent relations [with France] and he was very positive towards Turkey. But during the time of Mr Sarkozy, this is not the case. It is an unfair attitude. The European Union is violating its own rules.

    “Being in the European Union we would be building bridges between the 1.5bn people of Muslim world to the non-Muslim world. They have to see this. If they ignore it, it brings weakness to the EU.”

    Friendly towards a religious theocratic Iran, covetous and increasingly resentful of a secular but maddeningly dismissive Europe: it seems the perfect summary of Turkey’s east-west dichotomy.

    Erdogan’s partiality towards Ahmadinejad may surprise some in the west who see Turkey as a western-oriented democracy firmly grounded inside Nato. It has been a member of the alliance since 1952. It will be less surprising to Erdogan’s secular domestic critics, who believe the prime minister’s heart lies in the east and have long suspected his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development party (AKP) government of plotting to transform Turkey into a religious state resembling Iran.

    Erdogan vigorously denies the latter charge, but to his critics he and Ahmadinejad are birds of a feather: devout religious conservatives from humble backgrounds who court popular support by talking the language of the street. After Ahmadinejad’s disputed presidential election in June, Erdogan and his ally, the Turkish president, Abdullah Gul, were among the first foreign leaders to make congratulatory phone calls, ignoring the mass demonstrations and concerns of western leaders over the result’s legitimacy.

    Talking to the Guardian, Erdogan called the move a “necessity of bilateral relations”. “Mr Ahmadinejad was declared to be the winner, not officially, but with a large vote difference, and since he is someone we have met before, we called to congratulate him,” he said.

    “Later it was officially declared that he was elected, he got a vote of confidence and we pay special attention to something like this. It is a basic principle of our foreign policy.”

    The gesture will be remembered when Erdogan arrives in Tehran this week for talks with Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, that will focus on commercial ties, including Turkey’s need for Iranian natural gas. Ahmadinejad has voiced his admiration for Erdogan, praising Turkey’s recent decision to ban Israel from a planned Nato manoeuvre in protest at last winter’s bombardment of Gaza.

    Since the election, Iran has witnessed a fierce crackdown on opposition figures that has resulted in activists, students and journalists being imprisoned and publicly tried. Detainees have died in prison, and there have been allegations of torture and rape. Some of those alleging mistreatment have sought refuge in Turkey.

    But Erdogan said he would not raise the post-election crackdown with his hosts, saying it would represent “interference” in Iranian domestic affairs.

    He poured cold water on western accusations that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon, saying: “Iran does not accept it is building a weapon. They are working on nuclear power for the purposes of energy only.”

    Erdogan has overseen a dramatic improvement in the previously frigid relations between Turkey and Iran, which was viewed with suspicion by the pro-secularist high command of the powerful Turkish military. Trade between the two countries last year was worth an estimated £5.5bn as Iran has developed into a major market for Turkish exports.

    Erdogan’s views will interest US foreign policy makers, who have long seen his AKP government as a model of a pro-western “moderate Islam” that could be adopted in other Muslim countries. They will also find an audience with President Barack Obama, who signalled Turkey’s strategic importance in a visit last April and has invited the prime minister to visit Washington. They are unlikely to impress Israel, which has warned that Erdogan’s criticisms risk harming Turkey’s relations with the US.

    Erdogan dismissed the notion, saying: “I don’t think there is any possibility of that. America’s policy in this region is not dictated by Israel.”

    He insisted that the Turkey-Israel strategic alliance – which some AKP insiders have said privately is over – remains alive but chided the Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who he said had threatened to use nuclear weapons against Gaza.

    The Guardian

  • Israel’s attacks will lead to its isolation

    Israel’s attacks will lead to its isolation

    By Gideon Levy

    A8Israel has been dealing one blow after another to the rest of the world. While China has still not recovered from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s absence from the reception at its Tel Aviv embassy – a serious punishment for China’s support for the Goldstone report – France is licking its wounds after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “vetoed” a visit by the French foreign minister to Gaza. And Israel has dealt another blow: Its ambassador in Washington, Michael Oren, will boycott the conference next week of the new Israel lobby J Street.

    China, France and J Street will somehow get by despite these boycotts, Turkey will also recover from the great vacationers’ revolt, and we can expect that even the Swedes and Norwegians will recover from Israel’s loud reprimands. But a country that attacks and boycotts everyone who does not exactly agree with its official positions will become isolated, forsaken and detestable: North Korea of today or Albania of yesterday. It’s actually quite strange for Israel to use this weapon, as it is about to turn into the victim of boycotts itself.

    Israel strikes and strikes again. It strikes its enemies, and now it strikes out at its friends who dare not fall exactly in line with its official policies. The J Street case is a particularly serious example. This Jewish organization rose in America along with Barack Obama. Its members want a fair and peace-seeking Israel.

    Advertisement
     

    That’s their sin, and their punishment is a boycott.

    Oren, meanwhile, is a devoted representative: He also is boycotting. After criticizing Israeli columnists, including this one, in an article in The New Republic for daring to criticize Netanyahu’s speech at the UN – an outrage in its own right – the ambassador-propagandist uses the boycott weapon against a new and refreshing Jewish and Zionist organization that is trying to battle the nationalistic and heavy-handed Jewish-American establishment.

    In whose name is Oren doing that? Not in the name of Israeli society, whose ambassador he supposedly is. The former ambassadors from Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union would have acted the same way.

    Such aggressiveness is a bad sign. It will drive away our last true friends and deepen our isolation. “A nation alone” has turned into our goal, our isolation has become an aspiration. Whom will we have left after we attack and boycott everyone? Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League? Our propagandist-attorney Alan Dershowitz?

    Dividing the world up between absolute good and evil – our side and our enemies, with no middle ground – is a sign of despair and a complete loss of direction. It’s not just our ambassador in Washington, who knows nothing at all about democracy and pluralism and only wants to please his masters. Such behavior – kicking and barking crazily in every direction – is destroying Israel.

    Without giving us a chance to voice our opinion, Israel is falling to the status of an international pariah, the abomination of the nations. And whom can we thank for that? Operation Cast Lead, for example. Only the United States remains our automatic and blind ally for all our mistakes. Another democracy that saw its status deteriorating so much would ask itself first and foremost what mistakes it had made.

    In Israel our approach is exactly the opposite: The rest of the world is guilty. The Scandinavians are hostile and the Turks are enemies, the French and British hate Israel, the Chinese are only Chinese and the Indians can’t teach us anything.

    Any legitimate criticism is immediately labeled here as anti-Semitism, including Richard Goldstone, the Jewish Zionist. We are pushing everyone into a corner roughly and hope they will change their opinions and suddenly be filled with a deep understanding for the killing of children in Gaza. Now America too, even its Jews, are no longer immune to this aggressive Israel mad with grandeur.

    The damage is piling up from Beijing all the way to New York. After the J Street boycott even American Jews will know that Israel is not a tolerant, open-minded or liberal country, despite what they are being told.

    Now they will know that “the only democracy in the Middle East” is not exactly that, and whoever does not repeat and proclaim its propaganda messages will be considered an enemy – they may also be punished severely.

    They should just ask the billion Chinese who are licking their wounds from the mortal blow the Israeli Foreign Minster dealt them personally.

    Haaretz