Turkish Forum

Tag: Gaza

  • on Davos forum spat: some personal thoughts

    on Davos forum spat: some personal thoughts

    FromJavid Huseynov [javid@azeris.com]

    on Davos forum spat: some personal thoughts

    I think the position taken by Turkey in this conflict was strategically right. Although the implementation of strategy wasn’t worked out well in terms of PR, it’s actually beneficial for Israel. Why?

    Turkey is truly becoming a leader of the Muslim world, and instead of being an alien bystander, once more taking in hands the moral authority once held by Ottomans. It’s a well calculated policy, and Turkey is already influencing not only the politics but also the hearts and minds of all Muslims (sufficient to say that entire MidEast lives watching Turkish soap operas and television nowadays). Being the leading major secular democratic Muslim nation, NATO member with EU aspirations, Turkey has an excellent chance to become a respected Muslim superpower and a party to deal with in all matters pertaining to Islamic world… and it already is now.

    Shimon Perez, being a brilliant veteran politician and a Nobel Peace prize winner knows this very well, which is why he called Erdogan further to say he was sorry about what happened. Because it is in Israel’s and US best interest to work with democratic secular Turkey on all Muslim issues, instead of doing so with a divided, mostly corrupt and radical Arab statehoods. It’s better for Israel to have Turkey as a representative of Islamic world than irrational Ahmadinejad who threatens to erase Israel. And this position taken by Turkey will actually seriously weaken Iran’s influence in the Muslim Middle East but such policy requires getting the hearts of Muslim folk first, which is precisely what Turkey is doing.

    But, Erdogan was not the right person to deliver this Turkish message. His behavior was unprofessional, his speech delivered in Turkish instead of English was far weaker and irritating than that of Shimon Perez. This shows that Erdogan is an excellent strategist but a horrible diplomat. Doing so in perpetration by an Armenian-American host was not appropriate. I am not sure who arranged for David Ignatius to be the host of this panel, and perhaps, Erdogan was unaware of it, but a positive side is that even as a host of a major global forum, a person of diaspora Armenian descent was unable to hold off his biases and let Erdogan finish his talk.

    Regards,
    Javid

  • Davos; Video

    Davos; Video

    details were given in Turkish  language section

    Hürriyet Video’larını izlemek için Flash 7 veya daha yüksek eklenti yüklenmeniz gerekmektedir. Yüklemek için tıklayınız!!!

  • MPs join Gaza protest against BBC

    MPs join Gaza protest against BBC

    By Mark Hookham
    Political Editor

    Fabian Hamilton, MP

    THREE Leeds MPs have added their voices to the mounting criticism of the BBC for its refusal to televise an appeal for victims of the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

    John Battle (Leeds West, Lab), Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East, Lab) and Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West, Lib Dem) have joined more than 100 other MPs in signing a parliamentary motion urging the corporation to reverse its decision.

    The Disasters Emergency Committee’s two-minute Gaza Crisis Appeal was screened on Monday by ITV, Channel 4 and Five.

    However, BBC bosses have insisted that airing the film would threaten its impartiality and that the corporation should not give the impression it was “backing one side” over the other.

    Protests

    The decision has sparked more than 15,500 complaints and protests at BBC Broadcasting House.

    Mr Battle, a former junior minister, has also raised the issue with ministers at a Commons international development select committee.

    Relatives of his sister’s husband live in Gaza and have given him first hand reports of the intense suffering caused by the bombing.

    Fabian Hamilton, a member of Labour Friends of Israel, said: “To a child who has lost his parents and whose house is a pile of rubble it doesn’t matter whether it was Israelis or an earthquake. That child needs aid and our help. We have a duty to relieve that suffering.”

    Greg Mulholland said he thought the BBC’s reasoning was “utterly flawed.”

    A RALLY is to be staged outside the BBC’s regional HQ in Leeds to protest at the corporation’s refusal to broadcast a charity appeal for funds to help the people of Gaza.

    The rally takes place this evening from 5pm to 7pm outside BBC Broadcasting Centre in St Peter’s Square, near Leeds bus station.

    The BBC has refused to broadcast the appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee which includes charities such as Christian Aid and Oxfam.

    It says to do so might lead to accusations of “bias.”

    Source: Yorkshire Evening Post, 28 January 2009