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Indian Express, India
Jan 31 2009
Bad new vibrations
Posted: Jan 31, 2009 at 0127 hrs IST
Widespread outrage over Israel's assault on Gaza has sharply soured
the tone of Turkey's people and Government towards the Jewish
state. The prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, castigated it for
hammering the Palestinians. So far he has resisted a clamour in Turkey
to loosen or even sever his country's close ties with Israel. But some
advocates of the strategic friendship between the two countries fear
it may be at risk.
Behind the scenes, Turkish policymakers, especially military ones,
still cherish their ties with Israel. Speaking this week in
Switzerland, Mr Erdogan seemed keen to draw a line under the row. He
explained that he was incensed by the war in Gaza particularly because
his tireless mediation had brought Israel and Syria close to a deal
over the Golan Heights. He said he had also been trying to fix a deal
with Hamas over a prisoner exchange, including freedom for a kidnapped
Israeli corporal.
Similar rows have occurred before. In 2004 he annoyed Israel by
calling it a terrorist state after it assassinated Hamas's founder,
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, as he left a mosque in Gaza. Mr Erdogan then
invited Khaled Meshaal, Hamas's present leader, to visit Turkey. But
Israeli-Turkish relations were mended after prodding by the United
States. Military co-operation went on. Israel has invariably chosen to
turn a deaf ear to Turkey's occasionally fierce rhetoric for the sake
of that strategic liaison. In a bid to soothe the anger of Jews and
Israelis, Turkey's foreign minister, Ali Babacan, urged Hamas to
decide "whether it wants to be an armed group or a political
movement".
But this time Mr Erdogan had been a lot angrier. Israel, he railed,
was "committing a crime against humanity¦The world must not turn a
blind eye to Israel's savagery¦How can such a country, which
totally ignores and does not implement the UN Security Council's
resolutions be let through the gates of the UN?" An education
ministry circular particularly annoyed Israel by telling Turkish
schoolchildren to observe a minute's silence in solidarity with
Palestinian children. In the event, the Israelis persuaded the Turks
to cancel a proposed essay and drawing contest for schoolchildren to
air their feelings of hatred towards Israel. Israeli officials were
apparently poised to respond by proposing a programme in Israeli
schools for discussing the genocide of Armenians by Turks in the first
world war.
In any case, anti-Israeli anger on Turkey's streets rose during the
assault on Gaza. In rallies across the country demonstrators chanted
"Killer Israel! Nazi Israel! Turkish armies, march on Jerusalem!"
Calls to boycott Israeli goods and scrap military co-operation grew
louder.
Not for the first time, anti-Semitism reared its head. In the western
city of Eskisehir, members of a nationalist group brandished placards
that read, "Only dogs can enter: no Armenians or Jews!" An outcry from
Turkey's 25,000-strong Jewish community, plus pressure from the
foreign ministry, shamed a local prosecutor into launching a
probe. Turkey's Jewish community issued a rare statement saying that
"we Turkish Jews, an inseparable part of the Turkish Republic, feel
deep sorrow for the comments appearing in recent days in certain media
outlets that belittle and insult our religion and present us as
targets."
An ancient alliance
Turks deny accusations of anti-Semitism, noting that the Ottoman
Sultans opened their doors over 500 years ago to Jews fleeing from
Christian persecution in Spain. In 1948, Turkey was among the first
countries to recognise Israel. Under a military co-operation deal in
1996, Israeli pilots have been training in Turkish skies. In 2007,
bilateral trade rose to $2.7 billion. Between 2006 and 2007, the
number of Israelis visiting Turkey went up from 362,000 to
511,400-more than 7% of Israel's population. Turkey has also earned
praise from the Americans for its recent mediation between Syria and
Israel.
But anti-Semitism is often part of a general anti-Christian and
anti-Western feeling. "Jew" and "Armenian" are both often used as
slurs. Last year a Pew Global Attitudes Survey found that anti-Jewish
sentiment in Turkey had risen: 76% said they had negative views
towards Jews, whereas only 7% said they looked kindly on them.
Anti-Semitism was also blatant during a campaign against an Israeli
financier, Sammy Ofer, who had planned to invest with a Turkish
partner in rehabilitating Istanbul's historic Galata district and its
port near the Golden Horn. The tender was cancelled amid widespread
claims that the deal was crooked and that "Jewish capital" was trying
to take over the country.
Radical Turkish Islamists have long tried to stir up
anti-Semitism. Their long-standing jibe against the secular Kemal
Ataturk, modern Turkey's founder, was that he was "really a Jew". In
recent years assorted leftists and Kemalists have joined an
anti-Jewish chorus that frequently accompanies hostility to America,
which is often accused of plotting with Israel to set up an
independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq that will eventually take
large chunks out of south-eastern Turkey.
Behind-the-scenes lobbying by Turkish, American and European Union
diplomats may have persuaded Mr Erdogan to tone down his language. He
recently told Turkey's parliament, "As a leader, I have said that
anti-Semitism is a crime against humanity." But if anti-Israeli
rhetoric in Turkey persists, the Israeli lobby in the United states
could hit back by backing a congressional resolution to call the mass
killings by Turks of some 1m Armenians "genocide". Hitherto, Israel's
influential lobby in America has repeatedly helped block such a
resolution, though Barack Obama and his vice-president, Joe Biden,
have both referred to genocide in the past and have pledged to back
the bill.
Secret talks between Turkey and Armenia to open diplomatic ties and
reopen their borders are hotly opposed by some in the Armenian
diaspora's lobby in America. American Jews have long felt queasy about
defending Turkey over the massacre of Armenians. Hitherto, pragmatism
has prevailed and they have sided with the Turks. But if Mr Erdogan
keeps on lambasting Israel, they may change their mind.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bad-new-v ibrations/417345/0
Jan 31 2009
Bad new vibrations
Posted: Jan 31, 2009 at 0127 hrs IST
Widespread outrage over Israel's assault on Gaza has sharply soured
the tone of Turkey's people and Government towards the Jewish
state. The prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, castigated it for
hammering the Palestinians. So far he has resisted a clamour in Turkey
to loosen or even sever his country's close ties with Israel. But some
advocates of the strategic friendship between the two countries fear
it may be at risk.
Behind the scenes, Turkish policymakers, especially military ones,
still cherish their ties with Israel. Speaking this week in
Switzerland, Mr Erdogan seemed keen to draw a line under the row. He
explained that he was incensed by the war in Gaza particularly because
his tireless mediation had brought Israel and Syria close to a deal
over the Golan Heights. He said he had also been trying to fix a deal
with Hamas over a prisoner exchange, including freedom for a kidnapped
Israeli corporal.
Similar rows have occurred before. In 2004 he annoyed Israel by
calling it a terrorist state after it assassinated Hamas's founder,
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, as he left a mosque in Gaza. Mr Erdogan then
invited Khaled Meshaal, Hamas's present leader, to visit Turkey. But
Israeli-Turkish relations were mended after prodding by the United
States. Military co-operation went on. Israel has invariably chosen to
turn a deaf ear to Turkey's occasionally fierce rhetoric for the sake
of that strategic liaison. In a bid to soothe the anger of Jews and
Israelis, Turkey's foreign minister, Ali Babacan, urged Hamas to
decide "whether it wants to be an armed group or a political
movement".
But this time Mr Erdogan had been a lot angrier. Israel, he railed,
was "committing a crime against humanity¦The world must not turn a
blind eye to Israel's savagery¦How can such a country, which
totally ignores and does not implement the UN Security Council's
resolutions be let through the gates of the UN?" An education
ministry circular particularly annoyed Israel by telling Turkish
schoolchildren to observe a minute's silence in solidarity with
Palestinian children. In the event, the Israelis persuaded the Turks
to cancel a proposed essay and drawing contest for schoolchildren to
air their feelings of hatred towards Israel. Israeli officials were
apparently poised to respond by proposing a programme in Israeli
schools for discussing the genocide of Armenians by Turks in the first
world war.
In any case, anti-Israeli anger on Turkey's streets rose during the
assault on Gaza. In rallies across the country demonstrators chanted
"Killer Israel! Nazi Israel! Turkish armies, march on Jerusalem!"
Calls to boycott Israeli goods and scrap military co-operation grew
louder.
Not for the first time, anti-Semitism reared its head. In the western
city of Eskisehir, members of a nationalist group brandished placards
that read, "Only dogs can enter: no Armenians or Jews!" An outcry from
Turkey's 25,000-strong Jewish community, plus pressure from the
foreign ministry, shamed a local prosecutor into launching a
probe. Turkey's Jewish community issued a rare statement saying that
"we Turkish Jews, an inseparable part of the Turkish Republic, feel
deep sorrow for the comments appearing in recent days in certain media
outlets that belittle and insult our religion and present us as
targets."
An ancient alliance
Turks deny accusations of anti-Semitism, noting that the Ottoman
Sultans opened their doors over 500 years ago to Jews fleeing from
Christian persecution in Spain. In 1948, Turkey was among the first
countries to recognise Israel. Under a military co-operation deal in
1996, Israeli pilots have been training in Turkish skies. In 2007,
bilateral trade rose to $2.7 billion. Between 2006 and 2007, the
number of Israelis visiting Turkey went up from 362,000 to
511,400-more than 7% of Israel's population. Turkey has also earned
praise from the Americans for its recent mediation between Syria and
Israel.
But anti-Semitism is often part of a general anti-Christian and
anti-Western feeling. "Jew" and "Armenian" are both often used as
slurs. Last year a Pew Global Attitudes Survey found that anti-Jewish
sentiment in Turkey had risen: 76% said they had negative views
towards Jews, whereas only 7% said they looked kindly on them.
Anti-Semitism was also blatant during a campaign against an Israeli
financier, Sammy Ofer, who had planned to invest with a Turkish
partner in rehabilitating Istanbul's historic Galata district and its
port near the Golden Horn. The tender was cancelled amid widespread
claims that the deal was crooked and that "Jewish capital" was trying
to take over the country.
Radical Turkish Islamists have long tried to stir up
anti-Semitism. Their long-standing jibe against the secular Kemal
Ataturk, modern Turkey's founder, was that he was "really a Jew". In
recent years assorted leftists and Kemalists have joined an
anti-Jewish chorus that frequently accompanies hostility to America,
which is often accused of plotting with Israel to set up an
independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq that will eventually take
large chunks out of south-eastern Turkey.
Behind-the-scenes lobbying by Turkish, American and European Union
diplomats may have persuaded Mr Erdogan to tone down his language. He
recently told Turkey's parliament, "As a leader, I have said that
anti-Semitism is a crime against humanity." But if anti-Israeli
rhetoric in Turkey persists, the Israeli lobby in the United states
could hit back by backing a congressional resolution to call the mass
killings by Turks of some 1m Armenians "genocide". Hitherto, Israel's
influential lobby in America has repeatedly helped block such a
resolution, though Barack Obama and his vice-president, Joe Biden,
have both referred to genocide in the past and have pledged to back
the bill.
Secret talks between Turkey and Armenia to open diplomatic ties and
reopen their borders are hotly opposed by some in the Armenian
diaspora's lobby in America. American Jews have long felt queasy about
defending Turkey over the massacre of Armenians. Hitherto, pragmatism
has prevailed and they have sided with the Turks. But if Mr Erdogan
keeps on lambasting Israel, they may change their mind.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bad-new-v ibrations/417345/0