Mr. Stackhouse, Editor‘Israel’s bullying in eastern Med is over’
Davutoğlu’s statement about providing maritime safety in the eastern Mediterranean grabbed the most attention among the various sanctions against Israel the foreign minister announced Friday. He did not further elaborate, however, on what he meant by taking “every precaution.”
The Turkish foreign minister’s statement will likely spark a new faceoff between Turkey and Israel, the region’s strongest armies, in the eastern Mediterranean. A potential confrontation between the two countries’ navies would have serious negative consequences for regional stability.
Turkish diplomats told the Hürriyet Daily News that the Turkish Navy will be more visible in the eastern Mediterranean through regular patrolling in international waters. “A more aggressive strategy will be pursued. Israel will no longer be able to exercise its bullying practices freely,” one said.
Using Turkish naval vessels to escort ships carrying aid to Palestine and observing free navigation in the zone between the island of Cyprus and Israel are among the plans set to be implemented, sources said, adding that Turkish war ships would be more frequently seen in the area.
The zone described by Turkish sources has been the subject of a recent diplomatic struggle between Turkey and Greek Cyprus over the latter’s project to start drilling natural gas reserves. Greek Cyprus and Israel recently agreed to jointly initiate the drilling with the participation of some American companies.
Turkey sees the gas-exploration deal as an agreement between two hostile countries against Turkey and has urged both parties not to get involved in such a project before a solution is found to the Cyprus issue in order to preserve the stability of the eastern Mediterranean.
In an interview with daily Zaman on Friday, EU Minister Egemen Bağış hinted that Turkish Navy could intervene if Greek Cyprus does not call off the project. “That’s what a navy is for,” he said.
Erdoğan plans Gaza visit
As part of Turkey’s more aggressive strategy against Israel, sources told the Daily News that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is planning to visit Hamas-controlled Gaza in the coming weeks, an intention he voiced in late July.
“Our prime minister has already instructed the Foreign Ministry to set a date for the visit. We are looking for the best timing for the visit,” a diplomatic source said. “Our primary purpose is to draw the world’s attention to what is going on in Gaza and to push the international community to end the unfair embargo imposed by Israel.”
Turkey expels Israeli diplomats after UN report
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. AA photo |
Turkey expelled Israel's ambassador and senior Israeli diplomats and suspended military agreements on Friday, the day after it emerged a U.N. report said Israel had used unreasonable force in a raid on a Gaza-bound ship that killed nine Turks, Reuters reported.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu had said Thursday that Friday's official release of the “Palmer Report” would constitute Israel's last chance to apologize for its raid on the Turkish-sponsored flotilla and warned of consequences, including sanctions, should Israel continue to refuse to apologize.
Stung by Israel's refusal to meet demands for a formal apology, pay compensation for families of the dead, and end the blockade of Palestinians living in the Gaza enclave, Turkey announced it was downgrading ties with Israel further.
"Turkey-Israel diplomatic relations have been reduced to a second secretary level. All personnel above the second secretary level will be sent home by Wednesday at the latest," Foreign Minister Davutoğlu told at a news conference in Ankara.
Davutoğlu announced five measures that the Turkish government would take against Israel:
1. Downgrade diplomatic ties between the two countries to level of second secretary, effectively expelling diplomats above the said level.
2. All military agreements will be put on hold.
3. Turkey will take measures for freedom of maritime movement in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
4. Turkey will no longer recognize the Gaza blockade and will take the issue to the International Court of Justice.
5. Turkey will support all flotilla victims, Turkish and foreign, in court.
Israel's ambassador Gabby Levy was currently in Israel and cancelled plans to return to Turkey on Thursday.
Immediately after the attack on the aid convoy last year, Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Israel, suspended joint military exercises, and barred Israeli military aircraft from Turkish airspace.
On Friday, Turkey went a step further by putting military pacts with its erstwhile ally on ice.
Turkey slams Israel with last minute deal dead
The collapse of a last-minute deal pushed by Washington brings Turkey and Israel closer to a breaking point over the Mavi Marmara raid, with Ankara effectively expelling the Israeli ambassador and warning of harsher measures ahead
‘The time has come for Israel to pay for its stance that sees it above international laws and disregards human conscience,’ Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoğlu says. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ |
Turkey downgraded diplomatic ties with Israel to second-secretary level on Friday, effectively expelling the Israeli ambassador and senior diplomats over Israel’s failure to apologize for killing nine Turks in a raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship last year. Ankara announced five steps in protest, warning that more measures could follow.
“Diplomatic relations with Israel have been reduced to a second-secretary level. All personnel above the second-secretary level, primarily the ambassador, will return to their countries by Wednesday at the latest,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told at a press conference on Friday.
Ankara moved to make the announcement shortly after a long-awaited U.N. report on the Mavi Marmara raid was leaked to U.S. media on Thursday. Ankara believes the report was leaked by the hawkish wing of the Israeli coalition government in a bid to limit the room for maneuvering on both sides on a possible reconciliation deal involving an Israeli apology.
The downgrading of diplomatic ties was the first among five measures that Davutoğlu announced in response to Israel’s failure to apologize for the raid and compensate the victims’ families, which Ankara sought as a condition for normalizing bilateral ties.
Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Gaby Levy, whose term in Ankara was set to expire in mid-September, was already in Israel and will not return to Turkey. Ankara had already recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv immediately after the raid on the Mavi Marmara on May 31, 2010, and other senior Turkish diplomats will return to Turkey by Wednesday.
Turkey previously downgraded diplomatic ties with Israel to second-secretary level in November 1980 after the Jewish state proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital. The chilly period continued until December 1991, when progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks prompted Ankara to appoint ambassadors to both sides.
Secondly, Minister Davutoğlu said all military agreements with Israel have been suspended. Last year, Turkey had already effectively suspended military agreements and military exercises with Israel, and Ankara barred Israeli military aircraft from using Turkish airspace. Turkey went a step further Friday by officially announcing that it has suspended all existing military pacts.
Turkey and Israel signed a landmark military cooperation accord in 1996, much to the ire of Arab countries and Iran, marking the outset of what was called “a strategic partnership.” In the first major projects after the accord, Israeli companies were awarded contracts worth $700 million to modernize 100 Turkish F-4 and F-5 fighter jets and sold Turkey rockets and electronic equipment.
Ankara, for its part, offered an opportunity for Israel’s air force to train in a vast airspace unavailable in its own country, as part of joint drills in central Turkey. The two armies also held joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean. Turkey is also said to have allowed Israel access to its radars in monitoring Iranian and Iraqi air space, while other deals involved the exchange of military students and expertise on chemical weapons protection.
Davutoğlu also said Turkey would take every precaution it considers necessary for the safety of maritime navigation in the East Mediterranean, as the country with the longest coastline there. Turkey’s military presence in the East Mediterranean is expected to be boosted in the upcoming days. The move could be considered as a manifestation of Turkey’s position rejecting Gaza’s blockade, a Turkish diplomat said.
Davutoğlu said Turkey did not recognize Israel’s right to blockade Gaza and intended to ask the International Court of Justice in The Hague to examine the blockade as it stood on May 31, 2010. “For this aim, we are starting initiatives to put the U.N. General Assembly in motion [on the issue],” he said. The move suggests Ankara will seek collective action at the U.N. to apply to the International Court of Justice in a bid to secure a legal deliberation on the legitimacy of the blockade.
Lastly, davutoğlu said Turkey would support legal action by the families of Turkish and foreign victims in the Mavi Marmara raid. Turkish nationals can seek justice in local courts first. One of the nine dead was a U.S. citizen of Turkish origin and his family has already started legal action in U.S. courts.
The measures, Davutoğlu said, were a response to the attitudes of the current Israeli government, and did not target the Israeli people.
“Our aim is not to harm the historical Turkish-Jewish friendship, but on the contrary, to urge the Israeli government to correct their mistake that does not befit this exceptional friendship,” Davutoğlu said. “No state is above the law, and the time has come for Israel to pay a price for its illegal actions. This price, first of all, is being deprived of Turkey’s friendship.”
He said Turkish and Israeli officials held four rounds of talks to reconcile their differences and reached a consensus on two draft texts, which were also approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But the agreements failed due to a split in the Israeli Cabinet, he said.
Referring to the Palmer Commission report and its leak to the press, Davutoğlu said: “We are determined to take this issue to the relevant international legal authorities.”
Although the report has yet to be released officially, President Abdullah Gül said Turkey regarded it as “null and void.” Gül warned of further measures targeting Israel “depending on how things will develop and how Israel will behave.”
He warned the Israeli government, branding it “a burden even for its own people” and charging that it had fallen “into a position deprived of any strategy” in the Middle East.
“There are steps Israel must take for peace and security in the region. If they fail to comprehend this by themselves, we hope their allies will tell them in a way they understand,” Gül said.
The Globe and Mail
Why is it that you aren't reporting the following stories about the Israel Turkey row?
Dan Kahraman
Your sole story is at this link:
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