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EXPERTS FEAR DETERIORATING TURKISH-ISRAELI RELATIONS
By Wladimir Van Wilgenburg
Rudaw.net
http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/turkey/3967.html
Sept 12 2011
Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan
AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands -- Experts fear Israeli-Turkish relations
could further deteriorate following a report that the Israeli Foreign
Ministry advised supporting Kurdish rebels against Turkey.
The Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported Friday that a Foreign
Ministry team recommended Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman punish
Ankara by backing and possibly arming the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) as well as supporting the Armenian anti-Turkey lobby in the
United States.
Lieberman on Saturday reportedly denied that support for the PKK was
discussed at the Foreign Ministry meeting.
The report has nonetheless deepened the rift between Israel and Turkey,
which recently ordered its senior diplomatic staff in Israel to return
after Israel refused to apologize for attacking a Turkish flotilla
transporting humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in 2010. The raid
killed nine people.
Following the report, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan once
again threatened to challenge the legality of the flotilla incident
in The Hague. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stated,
"Every time someone tries to harm Turkey, it uses the PKK to do so."
"I believe this is serious. The ongoing tensions will further
escalate," said Saban Kardas, assistant professor of international
relations at the TOBB, Economy and Technology University in Ankara.
However, he maintained, "It doesn't matter for the Turkish government.
Such statements are good tools to bolster anti-Israeli rhetoric
domestically. This is what matters the public is already prone to
think Israel is behind PKK anyway," referring to Turkish conspiracy
theories over foreign support for the PKK.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did not deny
or confirm the report but released a statement after the article
was published, saying, "Our policy was and remains to prevent a
breakdown of relations with Turkey and easing the tensions between
the countries."
So far, the PKK hasn't reacted to the news, but the pro-PKK Firat
News Agency suggested that Kurds were suspicious of the proposal.
Furthermore, journalist Amet Dicle of Denmark-based Roj TV wrote
on Twitter that Turkey is bombing PKK guerillas with intelligence
collected by Israeli Heron drones. Roj TV is under investigation in
Denmark for having ties to the PKK, which is considered a terrorist
organization in the United States, Turkey and Europe.
United Press International, however, quoted Israeli commentators as
saying that Turkey's pressing need for Israeli drones amid an uptick in
fighting with the PKK could help mend the strained relations between
the one-time strategic allies.
Under a US$183 million deal, the Israeli state-run IAI provided Turkey
with 10 Heron drones.
Kardas said the drone deal "might be the best hope to save the
relationship, but given all that has transpired, I am not that
optimistic."
Tel Aviv University Researcher Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak said the
Israeli foreign minister has warned Turkey through unofficial channels.
"Certainly in the short-term the PKK card was used as a bluff against
Turkey. However, in the case of an unfortunate confrontation in the
Mediterranean, the Israeli-PKK connection may become a reality,"
he said.
Yanarocak maintained that Lieberman is "well aware Turkish Foreign
Minister Davutoglu's connections with Lebanese Hezbollah and with
Hamas" and "may not think twice in case of a concrete hostility. Of
course this attempt will harm sensitive relations between the people."
He argued that Israel is more likely to ally with the anti-Turkey
Armenian lobby, which presses western nations to isolate Turkey and
recognize the Armenian genocide, if Ankara takes Israel to The Hague.
"Lieberman wants Turkey to know that the sanctions against Israel
are not a 'one way street' that only affect Israel, but (the they)
will also affect Turkey harshly," he said.
Other Turkish experts reacted negatively to the statements. Kardir
Ustun, research director at the Washington-based SETA Foundation
wrote on Twitter that "such a threat by Israeli side is a dumb idea,
not discussing whether they've done it or will do it."
Michael Rubin of the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute
wrote an article for the Kurdistan Tribune in which he argued that
the Turkish position towards Israel "has broader implications. Turkey
justifies its actions in Iraq because it considers the PKK to be
a terrorist group, a definition the State Department shares. But,
if it is willing to supply and support Hamas--a group that engages
in far bloodier actions than the PKK--then Turkey has no moral or
legal basis to continue its crusade against the PKK. That Hamas won
an election is beside the point. After all, within Turkey, the BDP
has won many elections."
By Wladimir Van Wilgenburg
Rudaw.net
http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/turkey/3967.html
Sept 12 2011
Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan
AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands -- Experts fear Israeli-Turkish relations
could further deteriorate following a report that the Israeli Foreign
Ministry advised supporting Kurdish rebels against Turkey.
The Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported Friday that a Foreign
Ministry team recommended Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman punish
Ankara by backing and possibly arming the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) as well as supporting the Armenian anti-Turkey lobby in the
United States.
Lieberman on Saturday reportedly denied that support for the PKK was
discussed at the Foreign Ministry meeting.
The report has nonetheless deepened the rift between Israel and Turkey,
which recently ordered its senior diplomatic staff in Israel to return
after Israel refused to apologize for attacking a Turkish flotilla
transporting humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in 2010. The raid
killed nine people.
Following the report, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan once
again threatened to challenge the legality of the flotilla incident
in The Hague. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stated,
"Every time someone tries to harm Turkey, it uses the PKK to do so."
"I believe this is serious. The ongoing tensions will further
escalate," said Saban Kardas, assistant professor of international
relations at the TOBB, Economy and Technology University in Ankara.
However, he maintained, "It doesn't matter for the Turkish government.
Such statements are good tools to bolster anti-Israeli rhetoric
domestically. This is what matters the public is already prone to
think Israel is behind PKK anyway," referring to Turkish conspiracy
theories over foreign support for the PKK.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did not deny
or confirm the report but released a statement after the article
was published, saying, "Our policy was and remains to prevent a
breakdown of relations with Turkey and easing the tensions between
the countries."
So far, the PKK hasn't reacted to the news, but the pro-PKK Firat
News Agency suggested that Kurds were suspicious of the proposal.
Furthermore, journalist Amet Dicle of Denmark-based Roj TV wrote
on Twitter that Turkey is bombing PKK guerillas with intelligence
collected by Israeli Heron drones. Roj TV is under investigation in
Denmark for having ties to the PKK, which is considered a terrorist
organization in the United States, Turkey and Europe.
United Press International, however, quoted Israeli commentators as
saying that Turkey's pressing need for Israeli drones amid an uptick in
fighting with the PKK could help mend the strained relations between
the one-time strategic allies.
Under a US$183 million deal, the Israeli state-run IAI provided Turkey
with 10 Heron drones.
Kardas said the drone deal "might be the best hope to save the
relationship, but given all that has transpired, I am not that
optimistic."
Tel Aviv University Researcher Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak said the
Israeli foreign minister has warned Turkey through unofficial channels.
"Certainly in the short-term the PKK card was used as a bluff against
Turkey. However, in the case of an unfortunate confrontation in the
Mediterranean, the Israeli-PKK connection may become a reality,"
he said.
Yanarocak maintained that Lieberman is "well aware Turkish Foreign
Minister Davutoglu's connections with Lebanese Hezbollah and with
Hamas" and "may not think twice in case of a concrete hostility. Of
course this attempt will harm sensitive relations between the people."
He argued that Israel is more likely to ally with the anti-Turkey
Armenian lobby, which presses western nations to isolate Turkey and
recognize the Armenian genocide, if Ankara takes Israel to The Hague.
"Lieberman wants Turkey to know that the sanctions against Israel
are not a 'one way street' that only affect Israel, but (the they)
will also affect Turkey harshly," he said.
Other Turkish experts reacted negatively to the statements. Kardir
Ustun, research director at the Washington-based SETA Foundation
wrote on Twitter that "such a threat by Israeli side is a dumb idea,
not discussing whether they've done it or will do it."
Michael Rubin of the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute
wrote an article for the Kurdistan Tribune in which he argued that
the Turkish position towards Israel "has broader implications. Turkey
justifies its actions in Iraq because it considers the PKK to be
a terrorist group, a definition the State Department shares. But,
if it is willing to supply and support Hamas--a group that engages
in far bloodier actions than the PKK--then Turkey has no moral or
legal basis to continue its crusade against the PKK. That Hamas won
an election is beside the point. After all, within Turkey, the BDP
has won many elections."