Turkey vows response to Israeli attack

[N.O.R.F]

Nothing will happen.

 

The two Koreans are on a war footing. Not Turkey and Israel.

[-Serenity-]

A couple of months ago, Mossad agents murdered a Hamas leader in the middle of a Dubai hotel... does anyone remember? What happened to the investigations? Did the threats of bringing those who did it to justice materialize? I havent heard or seen a peep since.

 

I'm almost sure, just like that incident, and the one a year ago where Israel carpet bombed Gaza civilians for some rag-tag rockets fired at its borders and many other disproportionate aggressions against the Palestinians, this too will turn into a distant and vague memory in due course and Israel will get bolder and more aggressive in its pursuit of the land and any threats to its existence.

 

Ilaahay ha u sahlo ummada Gaza!

[General Duke]

Turkish PM calls Israeli ship raid a 'massacre'

 

By SELCAN HACAOGLU and SUZAN FRASER (AP) – 36 minutes ago

 

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's prime minister declared Tuesday that Israel had carried out a "bloody massacre" by killing nine people on a Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship and said the two countries had reached a turning point in their long-standing alliance.

 

Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Israel immediately after the raid, scrapped three joint military exercises and called the U.N. Security Council to an emergency meeting that demanded an impartial investigation.

 

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told lawmakers in the Parliament on Tuesday that the boarding of the Mediterranean flotilla and killing of at least four Turkish activists was an attack "on international law, the conscience of humanity and world peace."

 

"Today is a turning point in history. Nothing will be same again," Erdogan said.

 

This predominantly Muslim and historically secular country has close military and trade ties with the Jewish state but relations have been deteriorating since Israel's 2008-2009 war in Gaza. Erdogan, who leads an Islamic-rooted party, walked off the stage last year after berating Israel's President Shimon Peres at an international gathering in Davos, Switzerland, over the war in Gaza.

 

In January when Turkey's Ambassador Oguz Celikkol was not greeted with a handshake and was forced to sit on a low sofa during a meeting with Israel's deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, who later apologized.

 

The killing of the Turkish activists unleashed a new level of fury against Israel.

 

Thousands of pro-Islamic and nationalist Turks poured into the streets in Istanbul and Ankara Monday and protests continued on Tuesday outside Israeli diplomatic missions, with demonstrators carrying Palestinian and Turkish flags and shouting "down with Israel!"

 

Turkey's Foreign Ministry said four Turkish citizens were confirmed slain by Israeli commandos and another five were also believed to be Turks, although Israeli authorities were still trying to confirm their nationalities.

 

"This bloody massacre by Israel on ships that were taking humanitarian aid to Gaza deserves every kind of curse," Erdogan said, demanding that Israel immediately halt its "inhumane" blockade of Gaza.

 

The flotilla was the ninth attempt by sea to breach the three-year-old blockade Israel and Egypt imposed after the militant Hamas group violently seized the Gaza Strip in 2007, home to 1.5 million Palestinians. Israel allowed five seaborne aid shipments to get through but snapped the blockade shut after its 2009 war in Gaza.

 

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said Turkey would launch legal action at a Turkish court against Israel over the incident.

 

Erdogan said the Israeli raid proved "how good they are at killing people."

 

"Israel in no way can legitimize this murder, it cannot wash its hands of this blood," Erdogan said.

 

Turkey has been increasingly assertive diplomatically in the Middle East, backing Iran's attempts to quash new U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program and trying to mediate Israeli talks with Syria, which demands the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Golan Heights as a condition for peace.

 

Erdogan said Turkey would continue to support the Palestinian people.

 

"We will not turn our back on Palestine, Palestinians and Gaza," Erdogan said.

 

"No one should test Turkey's patience," he added. "Turkey's hostility is as strong as its friendship is valuable."

 

He urged Israelis to question the actions of their government.

 

"It is damaging your country's image by conducting banditry and piracy," Erdogan said. "It is damaging interests of Israel and your peace and safety. It is the Israeli people who must stop the Israeli government in the first place."

 

He said Israel cannot face the international community without expressing "regret."

 

"Israel cannot ensure its security by drawing the hatred of the entire world," the prime minister declared.

 

Turkey sent three planes to bring back some 20 Turks wounded during clashes that broke out when Israeli commandos raided the Turkish vessel. Erdogan said he had snubbed an Israeli offer to fly back the Turkish wounded.

 

The nationalities of the dead have not been released yet.

[General Duke]

"No one should test Turkey's patience," he added. "Turkey's hostility is as strong as its friendship is valuable."

Can someone tell me when an Arab leader said this in public, since the times of Abdinasar & sadat...

 

Turkey is no joke..

[General Duke]

Israel while strong against any Arab nation is not a power comparable to Turkey or even Pakistan. So stop the sniffling people.

 

Yes the Arabs have been subdued and outwitted, but the Turks defeated combined European powers to gain their sovereignty over 80 years ago. Thus to compare a Nato, member to the coward Arab’s of the Gulf and the impotent Egyptians, is more than crazy.

 

The Israeli's wont want to push this nation too far, and soon you will see the US mediating and helping its "allies" in the Middle East.

 

No war, but no easy walk for the Jewish state

.

[Haatu]

GD, Turkey is strong but at the same time it's helpless. This is all a PR stunt by the Tyrkish leaders. Empty words.

[ailamos]

Imagine if it were Iran that did this? All hell would break loose and the trigger-happy members of the US Congress would call for an invasion.

 

Israel has shown time and again that it can do whatever it pleases without fear of consequence. It's a frustrating ordeal for the Palestinians in Gaza having democratically elected a government then suffer a siege at the behest of the occupier. What are they to do? They are trapped in an apartheid state and at the mercy of the Israelis, the world having turned their backs on them, their nearest Arab neighbor shut its border, while the Israelis are tightening their grip.

[General Duke]

Haatu, Turkey as they demonstrated in Cyprus in 1975 are not helpless. It seems many here dont know basic history and how proud this nation is.

 

Remember the Armenian issue, and how Turkey till this day ias able to just make it into stuff and nonsense?

[General Duke]

Turkish Anger a Problem for Israel

 

Turkish anger over the deadly storming Monday of the Gaza aid ships is another setback for Mideast peace and a serious problem for Israel, which until recently counted Turkey as one of its few allies in the Mideast.

 

When news broke that a convoy of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza had been stormed by Israeli commandos, large groups of angry demonstrators gathered in downtown Istanbul. Many carried Palestinian flags; others waved placards saying, “We are all Palestinians” and “Israel: Killers.”

 

Images of the stormed ships dominated the television news, the pictures made all the more poignant for Istanbulis because of the familiar Mavi Marmara logo on the largest, a ferry leased from an Istanbul-based shipping line. More than 400 of the 580 passengers were
 Turks. Much of the aid on board had also been paid for by public subscription through a network of Turkish charities, one of which is headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s wife, Emine.

 Turkish customs officials are disputing Israeli claims that weapons were on board, claiming that all passengers were searched as they embarked from Turkey.

 

 

 

Anti-Israeli demonstrations are not uncommon in Turkey, and the game of recalling ambassadors happens so frequently to have become almost meaningless. Last year Erdogan stormed out of a meeting at Davos with Israeli President Shimon Peres after telling him that “You know well how to kill people.”

 

But this time the rupture appears to be more serious, the Turkish anger deeper, and the consequences likely to be longer-lasting.

 It’s a bad time for Israel to alienate Turkey. Thanks to a fortuitous alignment of foreign-policy opportunities and an industrious foreign minister, Ankara has over the last year made dramatic steps toward patching up differences with its neighbors, as well as forging close ties with Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu told NEWSWEEK last fall that Turkey’s “primary strategic relationship is with NATO” and the West. Nonetheless, Ankara has also taken a leadership role in the region it hasn’t occupied since Ottoman days, instituting visa-free travel with Syria and boosting economic ties with all its eastern neighbors.

 


The most dramatic recent demonstration of Turkey’s regional ambitions was last
 week’s attempt by Erdogan and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to broker a nuclear deal with Tehran. The year before, Erdogan attempted (unsuccessfully) a high-profile peace deal between Israel and Syria and tried to find common ground between Israel and Hamas. Ankara’s motives may not be entirely altruistic; being on the international stage boosts Turks’ sense of their strategic importance, and regional diplomacy also boosts Turkish exports. But there’s no denying the utility to Jerusalem of having a friendly Muslim country willing to act as an honest broker with some of Israel’s most implacable enemies.



 

Turkey’s friendship has historically been very important to Israel. Until last year the Israeli Air Force used the plains of Anatolia for training (those programs have been severely curtailed in the wake of the Gaza war in 2008 and 2009), and the Turkish military long had close ties with the Israel Defense Forces. With public opinion in Turkey running so passionately against Israel, even the Turkish military has 
backed away from its former friend. Three of the last remaining joint Turkish-Israeli military-training programs were canceled Monday.



 

An official Turkish government statement captured the angry mood in Ankara, warning of “irreparable consequences” for the two countries’ relations. Erdogan himself cut short a trip to South America and blasted the Israeli actions as “state-sponsored terrorism.” With public feeling running so high, even Turkish opposition figures condemned the attacks, leaving pretty much no pro-Israeli voice on
 the Turkish political scene.



 

In the long term, that damages Israel. By alienating Turkey, Jerusalem has lost a potentially crucial ally in its decades-old attempts to reach a grand bargain with the Arab world—a bargain that Turkey, in its newfound role as regional leader, could have helped to broker. As it is, Turkey’s eastward drift will only accelerate, propelled by growing disenchantment with the European Union and a groundswell of anti-U.S. feeling in the wake of the Iraq War.

[General Duke]

In the long term, that damages Israel. By alienating Turkey, Jerusalem has lost a potentially crucial ally in its decades-old attempts to reach a grand bargain with the Arab world—a bargain that Turkey, in its newfound role as regional leader, could have helped to broker. As it is, Turkey’s eastward drift will only accelerate, propelled by growing disenchantment with the European Union and a groundswell of anti-U.S. feeling in the wake of the Iraq War.

 

Newsweek summa up the problem for the west. The Turks are positioning themselves as the new Leaders of the Islamic world, a move we must all welcome.

[General Duke]

Turkish foreign minister: Israeli raid on Gaza aid flotilla 'like 9/11' for his country

Network NewsX Profile

 

 

By Glenn Kessler

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, June 1, 2010; 11:09 AM

 

With anger and sarcasm, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu lashed out Tuesday at Israel's attack on a Gaza aid flotilla and by extension the Obama administration's reluctance to immediately condemn the assault that left at least nine civilians dead.

 

"Psychologically, this attack is like 9/11 for Turkey," Davutoglu told reporters over breakfast in Washington before going to the State Department to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

 

Davutoglu displayed a map showing that the attack took place 72 nautical miles off the coast of Israel, far beyond the 12-mile sovereign border. He said that the "Israelis believe they are above any law" but that they would be held to account by Turkey and the international community. He likened the actions of the Israeli government to "pirates off the coast of Somalia," not a civilized nation, and ridiculed Israeli claims that some in the flotilla were linked to al-Qaeda.

 

Members of the European Parliament were on board, he noted, adding archly that he didn't know that "al-Qaeda had infiltrated the European Parliament."

 

Davutoglu had a previously scheduled meeting with Clinton to discuss Iran's nuclear program, but he said he diverted his plane Monday to New York once he heard of the attack so he could join discussions at the United Nations. He expressed dismay that it took 11 hours, well into the night, to reach an agreement on a U.N. statement, largely because of U.S. efforts to water it down to avoid pinning full blame on Israel and any direct call for an international investigation.

 

 

But he said that in Turkey's view, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has full authority under the statement to order an international probe. He noted that the incident took place in international waters so Israel has no right to declare it can conduct its own inquiry.

 

"We will not be silent about this," he said. "We expect the United States to show solidarity with us. . . . I am not very happy with the statements from the United States yesterday."

 

Davutoglu noted that Israel and Turkey have long had close relations and said he had planned to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to discuss relaunching indirect peace talks with Syria. Netanyahu canceled his visit to Washington to return to Israel to deal with the crisis.

 

To resolve the crisis in the relations between Ankara and Jerusalem, Davutoglu said Israel must make a "clear and formal apology," accept an independent investigation, release all passengers immediately, return the bodies of all dead passengers and lift what he called the "siege of Gaza." If these demands are not quickly met, he said that Turkey will demand further action from the U.N. Security Council.

 

He added that Turkey will also bring the matter before NATO. "Citizens of member states were attacked by a country that was not a member of NATO," he said. "We think that should be discussed in NATO."

 

The deadly incident off the coast of Gaza has also complicated the administration's push to win final U.N. approval of new sanctions against Iran. Davutoglu made it clear that Turkey, a member of the council, is in no mood to entertain any discussion of fresh sanctions.

 

"Diplomacy, diplomacy, more diplomacy" is needed, he said.

[Haatu]

Originally posted by General Duke:

Haatu, Turkey as they demonstrated in Cyprus in 1975 are not helpless. It seems many here dont know basic history and how proud this nation is.

 

Remember the Armenian issue, and how Turkey till this day ias able to just make it into stuff and nonsense?

That's because they were very much secular then. But today with a Islamist leaning AK party government, no one will support them on this.

[General Duke]

Originally posted by Haatu:

quote:Originally posted by General Duke:

That's because they were very much secular then. But today with a Islamist leaning AK party government, no one will support them on this. [/QB]

lol. No one supported them then, they were always Muslims regardless against Greek, Christian Europeans.

 

Turkey is a power and they will not waste it, like some Camels I know do.

[NGONGE]

Originally posted by General Duke:

quote:"No one should test Turkey's patience," he added. "Turkey's hostility is as strong as its friendship is valuable."

Can someone tell me when an Arab leader said this in public, since the times of Abdinasar & sadat...

 

Turkey is no joke..

Err..err..which Arab leader would sir like?

 

Erdogan got up and walked from that conference last year and the whole Islamic world hailed him a hero. He complained about being made to wait for an hour at a checkpoint in Ramallah and again, people marvelled at his daring to criticise Israel. His ambassador was summoned by the Israeli government, humiliated and made to sit on a lower chair than his inquisitors leading to Erdogan issuing one of his (now very common) condemnations and again you and your like called him a hero. Yet, in all this time, the war games and exercises between the Turkish and Israeli armies continued. The diplomatic relations remained and the mutual interests maintained. This will be a war of words like it always has been, adeer. Turkey will not do anything that its Arab cousins before it have not done.

 

P.S.

I was serious above when I asked you about which Arab leader you want to hear. Give me a name and I'll furnish you with a speech about fighting the yehood with guns, rocks and kitchen sinks (it's the traditional Arab speech, adeer).

 

Wax barta ya badow.

[General Duke]

As usual you are here to impress yourself. Adeer Erdogan walked out in Davos [A world famous event] while the Arab leader Ammir Mousa could not.

 

Also when his Ambassador was insulted, Erdogans words led to, deputy Foreign Minister of Israel apologizing in person, and so did the PM of Israel in written form. Israel has never apologized for killing Arabs and occupying their lands for 40 years.

 

Also even our President Obama’s first official to that part of the world was to Istanbul and not Tel Aviv.

 

Go learn Politics, and stop being jealous of the rising Turkish power you silly Arab camel you.