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ANKARA: Erdogan slams Israel, calls for integration with Arab world

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  • ANKARA: Erdogan slams Israel, calls for integration with Arab world

    ERDOGAN SLAMS ISRAEL, CALLS FOR INTEGRATION WITH ARAB WORLD

    Today's Zaman
    Nov 26 2010
    Turkey

    Israel's disproportionate use of force against civilians, along with
    Turkey's firm will to integrate with Arab countries despite epithets
    of an "axis shift in foreign policy," were the two main themes of
    Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdošan's messages delivered during a
    two-day official visit to Lebanon.

    On Thursday, the second day of his visit, when he was accompanied by a
    full delegation that included several ministers of his cabinet, Erdošan
    received a leadership award granted by the Beirut-based Union of Arab
    Banks (UAB). "What can be more natural than that?" Erdošan asked in
    his speech at an award ceremony at the UAB headquarters as he recalled
    that, in the past few years, Turkey has engaged in "strategic dialogue"
    with both the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

    "Believe me. Those who start and continue a debate of axis shift by
    misinterpreting our rapprochement with Arab countries are driving
    an evil-minded campaign. Actually, they are envy of our solidarity;
    their aim is something else," Erdošan was quoted as saying by the
    Anatolia news agency.

    Turkey and Lebanon signed an agreement to abolish visa requirements
    for their nationals in a bid to boost trade, tourism and economic
    co-operation in early January, while Syria, Jordan and Libya removed
    visa requirements for Turkish nationals in deals concluded last year.

    Turkey's strengthened ties with Middle Eastern countries, including
    Iran, led to debates on whether the long-time NATO country is drifting
    east and no longer committed to its bid for becoming a full member
    of the European Union.

    In his speech, Erdošan eventually brought the issue to Israel and
    its illegitimate use of violence against civilians.

    "You enter Lebanon with the most modern planes and tanks, you bomb
    without regard for children, women, civilian, school or hospital
    and then you expect us to keep silent," Erdošan said, referring to
    Israel's devastating war against Hezbollah in the summer of 2006,
    which killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and
    160 Israelis, mainly soldiers. "You enter Gaza with your most modern
    weapons, your missiles, your cluster bombs; you massacre children at
    school, in playgrounds and in flower fields and then you expect us
    to keep silent," Erdošan went on saying.

    Piracy, state terror Relations between former allies Israel and
    Turkey took a nosedive following an Israeli offensive in Gaza in the
    winter of 2008-2009, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,400
    Palestinians. The tensions peaked when Israeli commandos killed
    eight Turks and one Turkish-American on an aid ship trying to break
    the Israeli blockade of Gaza on May 31 and relations have been at a
    standstill since then.

    "You commit piracy in the Mediterranean, you launch state terror in
    the Mediterranean, you bloodthirstily slaughter my nine innocent
    citizens who were taking food to babies and then you expect us to
    keep silent. We will not keep silent," Erdošan said.

    Referring to Israel's violent acts in Lebanon and Gaza, Erdošan on
    Wednesday said that nobody should have doubts that Turkey will continue
    calling "a murderer a murderer" in the name of peace and justice.

    "The Israeli government should from now on see and comprehend that
    regional peace will be in its own favor as well as in the region's
    favor. If there is war and conflict in the region, both the region's
    people and its own citizens will be harmed. Therefore, we invite the
    Israeli government to offer an apology and turn its face towards peace,
    both for the peoples of the region and for itself," Erdošan said in
    a speech delivered in the Turkmen village of Kwashra in the northern
    Lebanese region of Akkar on Wednesday, with Lebanese Prime Minister
    Saad Hariri standing next to him.

    Erdošan's visit to the volatile Middle Eastern country came as concerns
    were high that Hezbollah might attempt a coup in Lebanon in the face
    of a UN probe after a Canadian television station suggested that a
    UN tribunal had implicated members of the Shiite militia Hezbollah
    in the 2005 killing of Lebanese ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

    Many fear that Lebanon could erupt into violence should the UN-backed
    tribunal indict Hezbollah members over the assassination, an outcome
    that the Shiite militia say they will not accept.

    Speaking at a joint press conference with Erdošan late on Wednesday,
    Saad Hariri expressed support for the UN-backed tribunal's
    investigation into the assassination of his politician father,
    while the former reiterated Turkey's support for a stable Lebanese
    government.

    Indicating that he was in contact with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
    concerning his meetings with different political groups in Lebanon,
    Erdošan added he would hold talks with Lebanese opposition groups
    before his departure from Beirut on Thursday. It was not clear whether
    those groups included Hezbollah when Today's Zaman went into print.

    At the conference, Erdošan also said the two countries had signed a
    partnership agreement to set up a free-trade zone.

    Different reactions to visit Erdošan was given a hero's welcome on his
    arrival in Lebanon, with supporters waving Turkish flags and posters
    to greet him on the streets. But on Thursday, hundreds of Lebanese of
    Armenian descent clashed with Lebanese army troops during a protest
    over his visit.

    Erdošan was inaugurating a hospital in the southern port city of Sidon
    as protesters gathered in Beirut's Martyrs' Square. When demonstrators
    tore up a large poster of Erdošan and pelted troops with rocks,
    security responded by beating up a number of them. There were no
    reports of major injuries. Lebanon has 150,000 Armenians, nearly 4
    percent of its population, who harbor deep animosity toward Turks over
    the 1915 killing of Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire.




    From: A. Papazian
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