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WAR OF WORDS ENGULF EAST MEDITERRANEAN
Hurriyet, Turkey
Sept 9 2011
Israel and Turkey exchange words on the east Med conflict after
Turkish PM vows that Turkish warships will escort aid ships. 'Ankara
would violate international law if it tries to break the blockade,'
an Israeli Minister says
DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SONMEZ
Israeli officials reacted angrily Friday to the Turkish prime
minister's vow that Turkish warships would escort future aid
ships bound for Gaza, deepening the war of words between the two
Mediterranean countries.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's remarks were "grave and serious,"
Israeli Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor told army radio, adding that
Ankara "would be violating international law" if it tried to use force
to break Israel's naval blockade on the Gaza Strip, which a U.N. report
recently declared to be legal, Agence France-Presse reported.
The minister said, however, that Israel had "no wish to add to the
polemic."
"It is better to stay quiet and wait - we have no interest in
aggravating the situation by replying to such [verbal] attacks,"
said Meridor, who also oversees Israel's atomic affairs.
Neither NATO nor Egypt would let Turkey give a military escort to
future aid ships, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official told the
Hurriyet Daily News on Friday.
Earlier this week, Erdoğan told Al-Jazeera television that the Turkish
Navy would accompany aid ships to protect them from raids like the one
Israel launched on a flotilla trying to break the Gaza blockade last
year. Nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists were killed in the raid on
the Mavi Marmara ship, sending Turkish-Israeli into a downward spiral.
There is anger and frustration in Tel Aviv over Erdoğan's statements,
according to a senior Israeli official who spoke with the Daily News
on condition of anonymity. "We have debated in the Foreign Ministry,
with several diplomats in attendance, to examine the options in case of
such a bid. We are thinking of measures that will diffuse the tension,"
the official said.
"We do not think either NATO or Egypt will let Turkey escort Turkish
Gaza-bound aid ships. During Erdoğan's visit to Egypt, the Egyptian
officials might let him enter Gaza [through the Rafah border gate]
if he continues to insist, even if they prefer not to," the official
added. "But regarding Turkish warships sailing toward Gaza, they
[Egypt] will tell Erdoğan it is not a good idea. Because Egypt
neighbors Gaza, it would also be disturbed to see Turkish warships
sailing very close to its coast."
Erdoğan is scheduled to pay an official visit to Egypt on Sept. 12-13.
He has expressed his intention to cross into the Hamas-controlled
Gaza Strip through Egypt's Rafah border gate as a reaction to Israel.
Diplomatic sources have suggested, however, that Erdoğan is unlikely
to actually make the trip. Egypt is reluctant to agree to his crossing
to Gaza through the Rafah border due to its agreements with Israel
restricting entries to Gaza. Egypt has also warned of security
concerns that might put the Turkish prime minister's safety at risk
if he travels to Gaza.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told the Daily News
in a telephone interview that they will not comment on Erdoğan's
statements about escorting future aid ships.
"The wisest thing at this point would be to show maximum restraint and
responsibility. I will therefore refrain from making any comments on
this statement," Palmor said. The spokesman also strongly refuted a
report in the Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that claimed
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman is set to cooperate with
the Armenian lobby and meet with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party, or PKK, as a reply to Erdoğan's statements. The PKK is listed
as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the
European Union.
The vice president of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation, or İHH,
one of the organizers of last year's ill-fated flotilla, said there
were no plans in the near team to send a new flotilla to Gaza.
"The İHH does not have a scheduled program of sending aid ships to
Gaza for now, but we welcome Erdoğan's recent remarks," the İHH's
Huseyin Oruc told the Daily News in a telephone interview.
* Aslı Sozbilir contributed to this report from Istanbul
Hurriyet, Turkey
Sept 9 2011
Israel and Turkey exchange words on the east Med conflict after
Turkish PM vows that Turkish warships will escort aid ships. 'Ankara
would violate international law if it tries to break the blockade,'
an Israeli Minister says
DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SONMEZ
Israeli officials reacted angrily Friday to the Turkish prime
minister's vow that Turkish warships would escort future aid
ships bound for Gaza, deepening the war of words between the two
Mediterranean countries.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's remarks were "grave and serious,"
Israeli Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor told army radio, adding that
Ankara "would be violating international law" if it tried to use force
to break Israel's naval blockade on the Gaza Strip, which a U.N. report
recently declared to be legal, Agence France-Presse reported.
The minister said, however, that Israel had "no wish to add to the
polemic."
"It is better to stay quiet and wait - we have no interest in
aggravating the situation by replying to such [verbal] attacks,"
said Meridor, who also oversees Israel's atomic affairs.
Neither NATO nor Egypt would let Turkey give a military escort to
future aid ships, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official told the
Hurriyet Daily News on Friday.
Earlier this week, Erdoğan told Al-Jazeera television that the Turkish
Navy would accompany aid ships to protect them from raids like the one
Israel launched on a flotilla trying to break the Gaza blockade last
year. Nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists were killed in the raid on
the Mavi Marmara ship, sending Turkish-Israeli into a downward spiral.
There is anger and frustration in Tel Aviv over Erdoğan's statements,
according to a senior Israeli official who spoke with the Daily News
on condition of anonymity. "We have debated in the Foreign Ministry,
with several diplomats in attendance, to examine the options in case of
such a bid. We are thinking of measures that will diffuse the tension,"
the official said.
"We do not think either NATO or Egypt will let Turkey escort Turkish
Gaza-bound aid ships. During Erdoğan's visit to Egypt, the Egyptian
officials might let him enter Gaza [through the Rafah border gate]
if he continues to insist, even if they prefer not to," the official
added. "But regarding Turkish warships sailing toward Gaza, they
[Egypt] will tell Erdoğan it is not a good idea. Because Egypt
neighbors Gaza, it would also be disturbed to see Turkish warships
sailing very close to its coast."
Erdoğan is scheduled to pay an official visit to Egypt on Sept. 12-13.
He has expressed his intention to cross into the Hamas-controlled
Gaza Strip through Egypt's Rafah border gate as a reaction to Israel.
Diplomatic sources have suggested, however, that Erdoğan is unlikely
to actually make the trip. Egypt is reluctant to agree to his crossing
to Gaza through the Rafah border due to its agreements with Israel
restricting entries to Gaza. Egypt has also warned of security
concerns that might put the Turkish prime minister's safety at risk
if he travels to Gaza.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told the Daily News
in a telephone interview that they will not comment on Erdoğan's
statements about escorting future aid ships.
"The wisest thing at this point would be to show maximum restraint and
responsibility. I will therefore refrain from making any comments on
this statement," Palmor said. The spokesman also strongly refuted a
report in the Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that claimed
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman is set to cooperate with
the Armenian lobby and meet with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party, or PKK, as a reply to Erdoğan's statements. The PKK is listed
as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the
European Union.
The vice president of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation, or İHH,
one of the organizers of last year's ill-fated flotilla, said there
were no plans in the near team to send a new flotilla to Gaza.
"The İHH does not have a scheduled program of sending aid ships to
Gaza for now, but we welcome Erdoğan's recent remarks," the İHH's
Huseyin Oruc told the Daily News in a telephone interview.
* Aslı Sozbilir contributed to this report from Istanbul