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ERDOGAN WANTS ANOTHER APOLOGY, THIS TIME FROM ARMENIA
Herb Keinon
AZG
30-07-2011
Turkish PM says Sarksyan trying to "fill youth with hatred"; Israeli
source: Who will ask Erdogan to apologize for occupying northern
Cyprus?
Israel can take solace that it is not the only country in the world
from which Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking an
apology: On Wednesday he demanded one from Armenia as well.
The Turkish news website Today's Zaman, reporting on Erdogan's current
trip to Azerbaijan, quoted him as saying that Armenian President Serzh
Sarksyan should apologize for calling on Armenian school children to
occupy eastern Turkey.
Sarksyan, asked by a student if Armenia would get back its "western
territories" along with Mount Ararat - an area of great historical
significance to Armenians - that's now in Turkey, replied that
"it depends on you and your generation. I believe my generation
has fulfilled the task in front of us; when it was necessary in the
beginning of the '90s to defend part of our fatherland - Karabakh -
from the enemy, we did it. I am not telling this to embarrass anyone.
My point is that each generation has its responsibilities and they
have to be carried out with honor."
The statement infuriated Turkey. According to Today's Zaman, Erdogan
said Sarksyan's behavior was a provocation and an attempt to fill youth
with hatred, which he said would lead Armenia's youth into "darkness."
"There cannot be such diplomacy. Sarksyan has made a very serious
mistake.... He must apologize," Erdogan was quoted as saying.
Erdogan's demand for an Armenian apology comes just a few days after
he threatened Israel with a "Plan B" - a further downgrading of ties -
if it did not apologize for last year's Mavi Marmara incident.
"What we see here is a pattern developing," one Israeli diplomatic
source said of Erdogan's most recent demand for an apology. "Who
is going to ask Erdogan to apologize for Turkey's occupation of
northern Cyprus?"
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's senior forum of
eight ministers - a body known as the octet - met on Wednesday, but,
according to government officials, did not deal with the Mavi Marmara
issue because Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon was not present.
Ya'alon, who in recent weeks has led the Israeli team negotiating with
the Turks over putting an end to the flotilla incident and re-establish
normal ties, has come out strongly against an apology to Ankara.
In addition to an apology, Erdogan is also demanding that Israel
pay compensation to the families of the nine Mavi Marmara passengers
killed while trying to break the naval blockade on Gaza, and to lift
the blockade itself.
While there is objection inside the octet to a blanket apology,
there is believed to be a willingness to issue a partial apology for
"operational failures" that led to the loss of lives, but not the
type of apology that could be interpreted as taking responsibility
for the incident.
The release of the UN Palmer Commission report on the incident, which
was to have been on Wednesday, has been postponed until August 20 to
give the sides more time to come up with an acceptable formula.
Herb Keinon
AZG
30-07-2011
Turkish PM says Sarksyan trying to "fill youth with hatred"; Israeli
source: Who will ask Erdogan to apologize for occupying northern
Cyprus?
Israel can take solace that it is not the only country in the world
from which Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking an
apology: On Wednesday he demanded one from Armenia as well.
The Turkish news website Today's Zaman, reporting on Erdogan's current
trip to Azerbaijan, quoted him as saying that Armenian President Serzh
Sarksyan should apologize for calling on Armenian school children to
occupy eastern Turkey.
Sarksyan, asked by a student if Armenia would get back its "western
territories" along with Mount Ararat - an area of great historical
significance to Armenians - that's now in Turkey, replied that
"it depends on you and your generation. I believe my generation
has fulfilled the task in front of us; when it was necessary in the
beginning of the '90s to defend part of our fatherland - Karabakh -
from the enemy, we did it. I am not telling this to embarrass anyone.
My point is that each generation has its responsibilities and they
have to be carried out with honor."
The statement infuriated Turkey. According to Today's Zaman, Erdogan
said Sarksyan's behavior was a provocation and an attempt to fill youth
with hatred, which he said would lead Armenia's youth into "darkness."
"There cannot be such diplomacy. Sarksyan has made a very serious
mistake.... He must apologize," Erdogan was quoted as saying.
Erdogan's demand for an Armenian apology comes just a few days after
he threatened Israel with a "Plan B" - a further downgrading of ties -
if it did not apologize for last year's Mavi Marmara incident.
"What we see here is a pattern developing," one Israeli diplomatic
source said of Erdogan's most recent demand for an apology. "Who
is going to ask Erdogan to apologize for Turkey's occupation of
northern Cyprus?"
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's senior forum of
eight ministers - a body known as the octet - met on Wednesday, but,
according to government officials, did not deal with the Mavi Marmara
issue because Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon was not present.
Ya'alon, who in recent weeks has led the Israeli team negotiating with
the Turks over putting an end to the flotilla incident and re-establish
normal ties, has come out strongly against an apology to Ankara.
In addition to an apology, Erdogan is also demanding that Israel
pay compensation to the families of the nine Mavi Marmara passengers
killed while trying to break the naval blockade on Gaza, and to lift
the blockade itself.
While there is objection inside the octet to a blanket apology,
there is believed to be a willingness to issue a partial apology for
"operational failures" that led to the loss of lives, but not the
type of apology that could be interpreted as taking responsibility
for the incident.
The release of the UN Palmer Commission report on the incident, which
was to have been on Wednesday, has been postponed until August 20 to
give the sides more time to come up with an acceptable formula.