Tag: Gaza

  • Israel, Turkey, Gaza in covert sea war. Hamas frogmen thwarted

    Israel, Turkey, Gaza in covert sea war. Hamas frogmen thwarted

    news from israeli intelligence
    DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 7, 2010, 11:11 AM (GMT+02:00)
    Turkey buries victims of Kurdish PKK attack, suspects Israeli hand

    The Israeli commando raid on a Turkish ferry heading to break the Gaza blockade, in which 9 activists were killed, is turning out a week later to have kicked off a semi-clandestine sea war between Israel, Turkey and the Gaza-based Hamas, debkafile’s military sources report. Monday, June 7, Hamas frogmen were on their way to a large-scale attack on an Israeli target when their boat was intercepted by Israeli commandos and four or five armed Palestinians killed. Turkey is investigating suspicions of Israel’s hand behind a deadly Kurdish terrorist attack on its Iskenderun base on May 31.
    Our military sources disclose Iskenderun’s quietly growing role in the last two months as a military hub in potential confrontations by Syria and Hizballah with Israel. In mid-May, Turkey moved anti-air missile batteries into the port to defend targets in Syria and Lebanon against potential Israeli air strikes from the eastern Mediterranean. This is the first time Ankara has provided Syria and Hizballah with an air defense umbrella and come down on their side in their conflict with Israel.

    Some hours after Israeli commandos clashed with armed men aboard the Mavi Marmara, Kurdish PKK rebel fighters attacked the Turkish naval base at Iskenderun on the Syrian border, killing seven Turkish seamen and injuring another six. If Ankara can prove its suspicions, it will be able to claim that Israel is involved by proxy in terrorist attacks on Turkish soil. Diplomatic relations still in force despite the frictions between the two countries will then be severed, one step before a declaration of war.

    Following the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan’s fiery abuse of Israel, Interior Minister Besir Atalay said Sunday, June 6: “We have been working hard, especially to ascertain what happened in the Iskenderun incident.” Local media have suggested he is looking for Israeli covert invovlement in the planning and execution of the deadly attack on the Turkish naval base in revenge for the violence on the Marmara against the Israeli naval boarding party.

    Early Monday, June 7, an Israeli Navy Commando force intercepted a large group of armed Palestinian frogmen, members of the Hamas sea commando, on their way from the Gaza Strip to the Israeli shore to the north early Monday, June 7. Palestinian sources confirmed at least four wet-suited terrorists were killed, and another four were missing in the wake of a shootout in the Nahal Aza area of the Gaza Strip near Nuseirat between their boat and Israeli troops.
    The IDF spokesman reported there were no Israeli casualties. debkafile’s military sources report the Hamas seaborne unit aimed to prove itself capable by striking an Israeli target of retaliating for the thwarting of the Turkish-led campaign to break the Gaza blockade.

    Shortly afterwards, a Palestinian Qassam missile squad was spotted on land near Jebalya preparing to fire into Israel. It was knocked out by the Israeli Air force.
    debkafile: Cross-fire from Gaza on Israeli border patrols is frequent, almost daily and Hamas still launches several Qassam missiles and mortar bombs into Israel every week, but attempts attacks by Hamas or related groups from the sea are a new development.

  • LONDRADA GAZA BLOCKADE DEMOSTRATION

    LONDRADA GAZA BLOCKADE DEMOSTRATION

    An emergency demonstration has been called in central London on Saturday 5
    June 2010 to protest against the Israeli assault on a flotilla of aid ships
    heading for blockaded Gaza.

    The march will start from Downing Street at 1.30 pm and head to the Israeli
    Embassy in Kensington where there will be a rally. The organisers are the
    Palestine Solidarity Campaign along with CND, the Stop the War coalition,
    the British Muslim Initiative and Viva Palestina.

    Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s General Secretary, Betty Hunter, says: “For
    us in the head office of PSC, the reality of Israel’s ceaseless campaign of
    attrition has been brought even closer to home with the news that our
    Director of Campaigns, Sarah Colborne, is one the campaigners illegally
    being held hostage by the Israeli Government. I am sure I speak for all
    members and supporters when I say that our thoughts are with all those being
    held hostage and particularly with Sarah, her family and her friends.”

    The UK trade union movement has been quick to show its support for and those
    travelling on the flotilla, following Israel’s attack on Mavi Marmara.

    At its annual conference in Manchester, the UNITE union passed an emergency
    motion calling for an end to the illegal blockade of Gaza.

    ———————————-

    Cumartesi gunu saat 13:30’da Downing Street (Basbakanlik Binasi) onunde
    baslayacak olan yuruyuste Turklerin katilimi ve Turk Bayraklarinin sayisi
    cok onem kazanmistir..

    Bu yuruyuse  lutfen herkes katilmaya calismalidir.Israil’in yapmis oldugu
    nu her zaman gormezden gelen  hukumetler Israil denilen korsan devletle
    ilgili ve hatta Turkiye’yi ilgilendiren bir konuda takkelerini onlerine
    koyacaklardir..

    Bu oradaki kalabaliga ve Turk Bayraklarinin sayisina baglidir.Bu yuruyus biz
    Turkler acisindan tarihi bir oneme haizdir….Lutfen bu tarihi firsati
    kacirmayalim.

    YER:13:30 DOWNING STREET -Parlamento binasina cok yakin…

  • Israeli commandos attack civilians on Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid: 19 DEAD

    Israeli commandos attack civilians on Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid: 19 DEAD

    Israeli troops attack ship carrying aid to Gaza killing 16

    turk bayragi.2JpegIsraeli commandoes have stormed a flotilla of ships carrying activists and aid supplies to the blockaded Palestinian enclave of Gaza, killing as many as 16 of those on board.

    By Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent and Matthew Kalman in Jerusalem

    Link to Al Jazeera’s report on board the Mavi Marmara before communications were cut:

    Fighting broke out between the activists and the masked Israeli troops, who rappelled on to deck from helicopters before dawn.

    A spokeswoman for the flotilla, Greta Berlin, said she had been told ten people had been killed and dozens wounded, accusing Israeli troops of indiscriminately shooting at “unarmed civilians”. But an Israeli radio station said that between 14 and 16 were dead in a continuing operation.

    “How could the Israeli military attack civilians like this?” Ms Berlin said. “Do they think that because they can attack Palestinians indiscriminately they can attack anyone?

    “We have two other boats. This is not going to stop us.”

    The Israeli government’s handling of the confrontation was under intense international pressure even as it continued. The Israeli ambassador to Turkey, the base of one of the human rights organisation which organised the flotilla, was summoned by the foreign ministry in Ankara, as the Israeli consulate in Istanbul came under attack.

    One Israeli minister issued immediate words of regret. “The images are certainly not pleasant. I can only voice regret at all the fatalities,” Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the trade and industry minister, told army radio.

    But he added that the commandoes had been attacked with batons and activists had sought to take their weapons off them.

    Israeli military sources said four of its men had been injured, one stabbed, and that they had been shot at.

    “The flotilla’s participants were not innocent and used violence against the soldiers. They were waiting for the forces’ arrival,” they were quoted by a news website as saying.

    The flotilla had set sail on Sunday from northern, or Turkish, Cyprus. Six boats were led by the Mavi Marmara, which carried 600 activists from around the world, including Mairead Corrigan Maguire, the Northern Ireland peace protester who won a Nobel Prize in 1976.

    It came under almost immediate monitoring from Israeli drones and the navy, with two vessels flanking it in international waters. The flotilla, which had been warned that it would not be allowed to reach Gaza, attempted to slow and change course, hoping to prevent a confrontation until daylight, when the Israeli military action could be better filmed.

    But in the early hours of this morning local time commandoes boarded from helicopters.

    The activists were not carrying guns, but television footage shown by al-Jazeera and Turkish television channels show hand-to-hand fighting, with activists wearing life-jackets striking commandoes with sticks.

    The Israeli army said its troops were assaulted with axes and knives.

    The television footage did not show firing but shots could be heard in the background. One man was shown lying unconscious on the deck, while another man was helped away.

    A woman wearing hijab, the Muslim headscarf, was seen carrying a stretcher covered in blood.

    The al-Jazeera broadcast stopped with a voice shouting in Hebrew: “Everyone shut up”.

    Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza after the strip was taken over by the militant group Hamas in 2007. It has allowed some food and medical supplies through, but has prevented large-scale rebuilding following the bombardment and invasion of 2008-9.

    The flotilla is the latest in a series of attempts by activists to break through the blockade. The boats were carrying food and building supplies.

    Activists said at least two of the other boats, one Greek and one Turkish, had been boarded from Israeli naval vessels. Activists said two of the other boats in the flotilla were American-flagged.

    The confrontation took place in international waters 80 miles off the Gaza coast.

    It was attacked by the head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh.

    “We call on the Secretary-General of the U.N., Ban Ki-moon, to shoulder his responsibilities to protect the safety of the solidarity groups who were on board these ships and to secure their way to Gaza,” he said.

    Turkish television meanwhile showed hundreds of protesters trying to storm the Israeli consulate in Istanbul. The incident will be particularly damaging for Israel’s relations with what had been seen as its closest ally in the Muslim world.

    “By targeting civilians, Israel has once again shown its disregard for human life and peaceful initiatives,” a Turkish foreign ministry statement said. “We strongly condemn these inhumane practices of Israel.

    “This deplorable incident, which took place in open seas and constitutes a fragrant breach of international law, may lead to irreparable consequences in our bilateral relations.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/7789175/Israeli-troops-attack-ship-carrying-aid-to-Gaza-killing-16.html

    [2]

    31 May 2010, [Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs] Press Release Regarding the Use of Force by the Israeli Defense Forces Against the Humanitarian Aid Fleet to Gaza

    We protest in the strongest terms the use of force by the Israeli Defense Forces against the civilians from many countries who want to transport humanitarian assistance to the people in Gaza, and among whom there are women and children, which, according to the initial information available, resulted in the death of 2 persons and injury of more than 30 people.

    Israel has once again clearly demonstrated that it does not value human lives and peaceful initiatives through targeting innocent civilians. We strongly condemn these inhuman acts of Israel. This grave incident which took place in high seas in gross violation of international law might cause irreversible consequences in our relations.

    Besides the initiatives being conducted by our Embassy in Tel Aviv, this unacceptable incident is being strongly protested and explanation is demanded from Israeli Ambassador in Ankara, who has been invited to our Ministry.

    Whatsoever the motives might be, such actions against civilians who are involved only in peaceful activities cannot be accepted. Israel will have to bear the consequences of these actions which constitute a violation of international law.

    May God bestow His mercy upon those who lost their lives. We wish to express our condolences to the bereaved families of the deceased, and swift recovery to the wounded.

    [3]

    Israel is a terrorist state by definition: Chomsky

    Avram Noam Chomsky, 80, is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, political activist, author, and lecturer. He is an Institute Professor emeritus and professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chomsky is well known in the academic and scientific community as the father of modern linguistics. Since the 1960s, he has become known more widely as a political dissident, and a libertarian socialist intellectual.

    Following is an excerpt of Professor Chomsky’s interview with Christiana Voniati, who is head of International News Department POLITIS Newspaper, Nicosia, Cyprus.

    Voniati: The international public opinion and especially the Muslim world seem to have great expectations from the historic election of Obama. Can we, in your opinion, expect any real change regarding the U.S. approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

    Chomsky: Not much. Quite the contrary: it may be harsher than before. In the case of Gaza, Obama maintained silence, he didn’t say a word. He said well there’s only one president so I can’t talk about it. Of course he was talking about a lot of other things but he chose not to talk about this. His campaign did repeat a statement that he had made while visiting Israel six months earlier — he had visited Sderot where the rockets hit- and he said “if this where happening to my daughters, I wouldn’t think of any reaction as legitimate”, but he couldn’t say anything about Palestinian children. Now, the attack on Gaza was at time so that it ended right before the inauguration, which is what I expected. I presume that the point was so that they could make sure that Obama didn’t have to say something, so he didn’t. And then he gave his first foreign policy declaration, it was a couple of days later when he appointed George Mitchell as his emissary, and he said nothing about Gaza except that “our paramount interest is preserving the security of Israel”. Palestine apparently doesn’t have any requirement of security. And then in his declaration he said of course we are not going to deal with Hamas — the elected government the U.S. immediately, as soon as the government was elected in a free election the U.S. and Israel with the help of European Union immediately started severely punishing the Palestinian population for voting in the “wrong way” in a free election and that’s what we mean by democracy. The only substantive comment he made in the declaration was to say that the Arab peace plan had constructive elements, because it called for a normalization of relations with Israel and he urged the Arab states to proceed with the normalization of relations. Now, he is an intelligent person, he knows that that was not what the Arab peace plan said. The Arab peace plan called for a two state settlement on the international border that is in accord with the long standing international consensus that the U.S. has blocked for over 30 years and in that context of the two state settlement we should even proceed further and move towards a normalization of relations with Israel. Well, Obama carefully excluded the main content about the two state settlement and just talked about the corollary, for which a two state settlement is a precondition. Now that’s not an oversight, it can’t be. That’s a careful wording, sending the message that we are not going to change their (Israel’s) rejectionist policy. We’ll continue to be opposed to the international consensus on this issue, and everything else he said accords with it. We will continue in other words to support Israel’s settlement policies — those policies are undermining any possible opportunity or hope for a viable Palestinian entity of some kind. And it’s a continued reliance on force in both parts of occupied Palestine. That’s the only conclusion you could draw.

    Voniati: Let U.S. talk about the timing of the assault on the Gaza Strip. Was it accidental or did it purposefully happen in a vacuum of power? To explain myself, the global financial crisis has challenged the almost absolute U.S. global hegemony. Furthermore, the attack on Gaza was launched during the presidential change of guard. So, did this vacuum of power benefit the Israeli assault on Gaza?

    Chomsky: Well, the timing was certainly convenient since attention was focused elsewhere. There was no strong pressure on the president or other high officials of the U.S. to say anything about it. I mean Bush was on his way out, and Obama could hide behind the pretext that he’s not yet in. And pretty much the same was in Europe, so that they could just say, well we can’t talk about it now, it’s too difficult a time. The assault was well chosen in that respect. It was well chosen in other respects too: the bombing began shortly after Hamas had offered a return to the 2005 agreement, which in fact was supported by the U.S. They said, ok, let’s go back to the 2005 agreement that was before Hamas was elected. That means no violence and open the borders. Closing the borders is a siege, it’s an act of war……… not very harmful but it’s an act of war. Israel of all countries insists on that. I mean Israel went to war twice in 1956 and 1967 on the grounds, it claimed, that its access to the outside world was being hampered. It wasn’t a siege, its access through the Gulf of Aqaba was being hampered. Well if that is an act of war then certainly a siege is, and so it’s understood.

    So Khaled Mashaal asked for an end of the state of the war, which would include opening the borders. Well, a couple of days later, when Israel didn’t react to that, Israel attacked. The attack was timed for Saturday morning — the Sabbath day in Israel — at about 11:30, which happens to be the moment when children are leaving school and crowds are milling in the streets of this very heavily crowded city… The explicit target was police cadets… Now, there are civilians, in fact we now know that for several months the legal department of the Israeli army had been arguing against this plan because it said it was a direct attack against civilians. And of course, plenty civilians will be killed if you bomb a crowded city, especially at a time like that. But finally the legal department was sort of bludgeoned into silence by the military so they said alright. So that’s when they opened –on a Sabbath morning. Now two weeks later, Israel — on Saturday as well — blocked the humanitarian aid because they didn’t want to disgrace Sabbath. Well, that’s interesting too. But the main point about the timing was that there was an effort to undercut the efforts for a peaceful settlement and it was terminated just in time to prevent pressure on Obama to say something about it. It’s hard to believe that this isn’t conscious. We know that it was very meticulously planned for many months beforehand.

    Voniati: In a recent interview with LBC, you said that the policies of Hamas are more conducive to peace than the United States’ or Israel’s.

    Chomsky: Oh yes, that’s clear.

    Voniati: Also, that the policies of Hamas are closer to international consensus on a political peaceful settlement than those of Israel and the U.S. Can you explain your stance?

    Chomsky: Well for several years Hamas has been very clear and explicit, repeatedly, that they favor a two state settlement on the international border. They said they would not recognize Israel but they would accept a two state settlement and a prolonged truce, maybe decades, maybe 50 years. Now, that’s not exactly the international consensus but it’s pretty close to it. On the other hand, the United States and Israel flatly reject it. They reject it in deeds, that’s why they are building all the construction development activities in the West Bank, not only in violation of international laws, U.S. and Israel know that the illegal constructions are designed explicitly to convert the West Bank into what the architect of the policy, Arial Sharon, called bantustan. Israel takes over what it wants, break up Palestine into unviable fragments. That’s undermining a political settlement. So in deeds, yes of course they are undermining it, but also in words: that goes back to 1976 when the U.S. vetoed the Security Council resolution put forward by the Arab states which called for a two state settlement and it goes around until today. In December, last December, at the meetings of the UN’s General Assembly there were many resolutions passed. One of them was a resolution calling for recognition of the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people. It didn’t call for a state, just the right of self-determination. It passed with 173 to 5. The 5 were the U.S, Israel and a few small pacific islands. Of course that can’t be reported in the U.S. So they are rejecting it even in words, as well as — more significantly- in acts. On the other hand, Hamas comes pretty close to accepting it. Now, the demand which Obama repeated on Hamas is that they must meet three conditions: they must recognize Israel’s right to exist, they must renounce violence and they must accept past agreements, and in particular the Road Map. Well, what about the U.S. and Israel? I mean, obviously they don’t renounce violence, they reject the Road Map — technically they accepted it but Israel immediately entered 14 reservations (which weren’t reported here) which completely eliminated its content, and the U.S. went along. So the U.S. and Israel completely violate those two conditions, and of course they violate the first, they don’t recognize Palestine. So sure, there’s a lot to criticize about Hamas, but on these matters they seem to be much closer to — not only international opinion — but even to a just settlement than the U.S. and Israel are.

    Voniati: On the other hand, Hamas has been accused of using human shields to hide and protect itself. Israel insists that the war was a matter of defense. Is Hamas a terrorist organization, as it is accused to be? Is Israel a terrorist state?

    Chomsky: Well, Hamas is accused of using human shields, rightly or wrongly. But we know that Israel does it all the time. Is Israel a terrorist state? Well yes according to official definitions. I mean, one of the main things holding up ceasefire right now is that Israel insists that it will not allow a ceasefire until Hamas returns a captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit — he’s very famous in the West everybody knows he was captured. Well, one day before Gilad Shalit was captured, Israeli forces went into Gaza City and kidnapped two Palestinian civilians (the Muamar Brothers) and brought them across the border to Israel in violation of international law and hid them somewhere in the huge Israeli prisons. Nobody knows what happened to them since. I mean, kidnapping civilians is a much worse crime than capturing a soldier of an attacking army. And furthermore this has been regular Israeli practice for decades. They’ve been kidnapping civilians in Lebanon or on the high seas…They take them to Israel, put them into prisons, sometimes keeping them as hostages for long periods. So you know, if the capturing of Gilad Shalit is a terrorist act, well, then Israel’s regular practice supported by the U.S. is incomparably worse. And that’s quite apart from repeated aggression and other crimes.

    Voniati: Though of Jewish decent, you have been repeatedly accused of anti-Semitism. How do you respond?

    Chomsky: The most important comment about that was made by the distinguished statesman Abba Eban, maybe 35 years ago, in an address to the American people. He said that there are two kinds of criticism of Zionism (by Zionism I mean the policies of the state of Israel). One is criticism by anti-Semites and the other is criticism by neurotic self-hating Jews. That eliminates 100% of possible criticism. The neurotic self-hating Jews, he actually mentioned two, I was one and I.F. Stone, a well-known writer was another). I mean that’s the kind of thing that would come out of a communist party in its worst days. But you see, I can’t really be called anti-Semite because I’m Jewish so I must be a neurotic self-hating Jew, by definition. The assumption is that the policies of the state of Israel are perfect, so therefore any kind of criticism must be illegitimate. And that’s from Abba Eban, one of the most distinguished figures in Israel, the most westernized … praised, considered a dove.

    Source: Countercurrents.org

  • Erdogan backs sail to Gaza

    Erdogan backs sail to Gaza

    Turkish leader tells organizers he supports efforts to ‘break oppressive siege on Gaza Strip’

    Roee Nahmias

    Published: 05.11.10, 15:24 / Israel News

    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told organizers of a sail to Gaza Tuesday that he would support them in their efforts to ‘break the oppressive siege on the Gaza Strip’.

    The independent Palestinian news agency PNN reported that during the Istanbul meeting with members of the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG) Erdogan said the breaking of the siege was ‘at the top of Turkey’s list of priorities’.

    Photo: AP

    He said he would also support efforts to rebuild “what the Israeli war machine destroyed 15 months ago”.

    Israel’s recentacceptance into the ranks of the OECD also came up. “We must force Israel to lift the siege on Gaza and respect human rights as a condition for its acceptance into any international organization,” Erdogan said.

    The website for IHH – the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief – said Sahin had been living in the West Bank since November 28 and was enrolled as a student at Israel’s Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

    The website for IHH – the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief – said Sahin had been living in the West Bank since November 28 and was enrolled as a student at Israel’s Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

    It said the arrest was an Israeli attempt to stop the sail to Gaza and denied the Shin Bet’s allegations.

    ynetnews

  • Turkey ‘gives Israel deadline’ for drone delivery

    Turkey ‘gives Israel deadline’ for drone delivery

    ANKARA — Turkey has given Israeli contractors 50 days to fulfil a long-delayed deal for the delivery of 10 drone aircraft for the Turkish army, Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul was quoted as saying Saturday.

    HeronThe delays in the project, launched in 2005, have come against a backdrop of tensions between the two regional allies over Israel’s devastating war on the Gaza Strip at the turn of the year.

    The two contractors — Israel Aerospace Industries and Elbit — have been sent a letter to fulfil the terms of the deal within 50 days, the CNN Turk news channel quoted Gonul as saying.

    “If this letter does not bear fruit either, the tender may be cancelled. But there is no cancellation at the moment,” Gonul told CNN Turk, according to the report.

    Negotiations between the two sides are continuing, he added.

    Israeli officials have rejected suggestions that the delay had political links, saying the project was snagged by technical problems as Turkish-manufactured equipment proved too heavy for the aircraft.

    Turkish media reported this week that Turkey had returned the only two planes to have been delivered on grounds they failed to meet the required technical norms concerning flying altitude and time.

    Turkey awarded the contract in April 2005, saying that it involved the manufacture of three unmanned aerial vehicle systems, including 10 aircraft, surveillance equipment and ground control stations.

    The contract was part of a 183-million-dollar project in which Turkish firms were to provide sub-systems and services amounting to 30 percent of the project.

    Officials had said at the time the Israeli side was expected to complete their part in 24 to 30 months.

    Israel’s ties with Turkey, its main regional ally since 1998 when the two signed a military cooperation accord, took a downturn in January when the Islamist-rooted government in Ankara launched an unprecedented barrage of criticism of the Jewish state over its deadly offensive on Gaza.

    Last month Turkey excluded Israel from joint military drills and said ties would continue to suffer unless Israel ends “the humanitarian tragedy” in Gaza and revives peace talks with the Palestinians.

    AFP

  • ‘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