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  • Israel Snubs Turkish Ambassador Over Criticism, Making Him Sit On A

    ISRAEL SNUBS TURKISH AMBASSADOR OVER CRITICISM, MAKING HIM SIT ON A LOW SOFA
    By Amy Teibel (CP)

    The Canadian Press
    Jan 12 2010

    JERUSALEM -- Israel publicly snubbed Turkey's ambassador over his
    country's persistent criticism of the Jewish state, with a government
    official refusing to shake the envoy's hand and making him sit on a
    lower seat at a meeting.

    Turkey's ties with Israel have been strained by Turkish Prime Minister
    Recep Tayyip Erdogan's fierce criticism of the Jewish state's use of
    force against Palestinians.

    On Monday evening, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon
    summoned the Turkish ambassador to criticize a Turkish television
    drama depicting Israeli security forces as kidnapping children and
    shooting old men. Another show broadcast last year also portrayed
    Israeli security forces as brutal.

    As the meeting started, Ayalon told cameramen the ambassador was
    pointedly seated on a sofa lower than his own chair. He also noted
    there was no Turkish flag on display and that Israeli officials
    weren't smiling.

    Asked before the meeting whether he would shake hands with Ambassador
    Ahmed Oguz Celikkol, he replied, "No. That's the point."

    For years Israel's isolation in the overwhelmingly Arab Mideast had
    been eased by good ties with predominantly Muslim Turkey. In 2008,
    it mediated several rounds of indirect talks between Israel and Syria.

    But the alliance began to fray after Israel's three-week military
    offensive in the Gaza Strip early last year.

    Erdogan, who heads an Islamist-oriented government, set off the latest
    round of acrimony by accusing Israel of being a threat to world peace
    and using disproportionate force in the Gaza war. The operation was
    launched against Gaza militants, but hundreds of Palestinian civilians
    were among the more than 1,400 dead.

    "We can never remain silent in the face of Israel's attitude. ... It
    has disproportionate power and it is using that at will, while refusing
    to abide by U.N. resolutions," Erdogan said in Ankara Monday at a
    joint news conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

    Israel lashed back by insisting it had "the full right" to protect
    itself against Islamic Hamas militants in Gaza, which had bombarded
    Israel with thousands of rockets for years before the offensive,
    and against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas who struck Israel with
    4,000 rockets during their 2006 war.

    "The Turks should be the last to preach morality," Israel's Foreign
    Ministry said in a statement late Monday, an apparent reference to
    Turkey's past conduct against Armenians, Kurds and Greek Cypriots.

    The Turkish Foreign Ministry rejected that criticism, saying Turkey
    has always been a friend to Jews.

    "Deep-rooted relations between Turks and Jews that precede the
    establishment of the Israeli state and the general structure of
    our relations give us the responsibility to make such warnings and
    criticism," it said in a statement.

    Because Israel is so concerned about the deteriorating ties with
    Turkey, there was much criticism Tuesday of Ayalon's blunt conduct.

    Cabinet Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer of the Labor Party, who has
    been trying to repair ties, called it "uncalled for" and "humiliating."

    Speaking to Army Radio, Ayalon refused to apologize. "It's the Turks
    who need to apologize," for both Erdogan's remarks and the TV shows,
    he said.

    The Turks summoned Israel's ambassador Gabriel Levy on Tuesday "to
    express unease and seek explanation," Turkey's state-run Anatolia
    news agency said.

    Turkey's public fury with Israel peaked a year ago at the World
    Economic Forum conference in Davos, Switzerland, where Erdogan
    stormed off a stage he shared with Israeli President Shimon Peres,
    after telling him, "you kill people."

    Turkey later scrapped a military exercise involving Israel. Israeli
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out Turkey's resuming its
    role as mediator in Israel-Syria talks, which broke down with little
    tangible progress after the Gaza war.
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