Tweet
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Feb 15 2015
AK Party steps up anti-Israel rhetoric ahead of elections
DENÄ°Z ARSLAN- ANKARA February 14, 2015, Saturday
As a central part of its election campaign strategy, the ruling
Justice and Development »»
As a central part of its election campaign strategy, the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has begun to step
up its anti-Israel rhetoric, and Foreign Minister Mevlüt ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu's
decision not to attend the Munich Security Conference last weekend due
to an Israeli presence has caused concern, given the government's
previous anti-Semitic outbursts.
Apparently aiming to please the conservative voter base of the AK
Party before the June 7 parliamentary elections this year, President
Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an, Prime Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu and ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu
have increased their anti-Israel rhetoric considerably. At the last
minute, Foreign Minister ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu canceled his plans to attend the
Munich Security Conference upon learning that an Israeli
representative would also be attending a session ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu was
scheduled to address. `I was, in fact, going to attend the conference
but we decided not to do so since they added an Israeli representative
to the Middle East session at the last minute,' ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu told
reporters at the Turkish Embassy in Berlin.
Turkey opting out of attending an international conference due to the
attendance of an Israeli representative is unprecedented. Turkey and
Israel used to enjoy good military and political relations until in
2009 then-Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an walked off the stage after an angry
exchange with Israeli President Shimon Peres during a panel discussion
on Gaza at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. During the panel,
ErdoÄ?an told Peres, `When it comes to killing, you know well how to
kill,' then vowed never to return to the annual gathering in Davos.
Diplomatic ties between Turkey and Israel took another downturn in
2010. In May of that year, Israeli commandos killed eight Turkish
citizens and an American of Turkish origin in international waters on
the Mavi Marmara ship. The Mavi Marmara was leading a "Gaza Freedom
Flotilla" carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials for
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli
blockade since 2007. The Israeli ambassador was expelled from Ankara
in September 2011 after Israel refused to apologize for the killings.
Israel formally apologized in 2013 for what it called `operational
mistakes' that might have led to the deaths of the victims.
Turkey and Israel have been negotiating a compensation deal, but an
agreement has not yet been forthcoming.
Following Israel's Gaza offensive in the summer of 2014, ErdoÄ?an's
comments about Israel have caused the rift between the two countries
to grow. ErdoÄ?an said in July that Israel had agreed to lift its
blockade of Gaza as part of normalization talks between Israel and
Turkey but Israel's attack on Gaza reveals that it does not want
normalization and that Turkey would delay the continuation of talks as
a result of the offensive.
Last month, tension increased between Israel and Turkey after
DavutoÄ?lu compared his Israeli counterpart, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, to the perpetrators of recent terrorist attacks in Paris,
saying both had committed crimes against humanity. DavutoÄ?lu said
Israel's bombardment of Gaza and its storming in 2010 of the Mavi
Marmara were on par with the Paris attacks, whose dead included
employees of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and shoppers at a
Kosher supermarket.
ErdoÄ?an's recent criticism of Netanyahu's attendance at a Paris
solidarity march for the Paris attack victims also escalated the war
of words between the former allies. ErdoÄ?an said that while Israel is
committing `state terror' it is hypocritical of Netanyahu to attend a
march supporting freedoms.
Netanyahu responded to ErdoÄ?an by calling his remarks `shameful.'
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman slammed Netanyahu on Feb. 6
for his 2013 apology to Turkey, hours after ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu announced he had
pulled out of the Munich conference. Lieberman said that Turkey's
decision to drop out of the security conference once again proved that
Netanyahu's apology was a `great mistake,' according to reports in the
Israeli media.
The Israeli delegation at the conference was headed by Intelligence
Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz. "ErdoÄ?an's Turkey is a country that
wishes only to attack and to goad Israel," Haaretz quoted Lieberman as
saying. He said Israel must act accordingly "and safeguard Israeli
interests."
Steinitz also released a statement criticizing the Turkish decision.
"Israel will take part in any international conference, whether Turkey
likes it or not," he said, adding that more than hurting Israel, the
decision "casts a heavy shadow on Turkey's future and character.'
With the general election date approaching, Prime Minister DavutoÄ?lu
has also begun to use anti-Semitic rhetoric in his election campaign
speeches. On Feb. 7, speaking at a rally in Sakarya province,
DavutoÄ?lu claimed that Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives in
the US, is trying to provoke the Jewish lobby in the US -- along with
Greek and Armenian lobbies -- against the Turkish government.
Gülen is often a target of AK Party criticism for allegedly
controlling a `parallel state' within the Turkish state. DavutoÄ?lu
claimed that Gülen's Feb. 3 article in The New York Times -- which
called on the Turkish government to reverse its current path and
respect democracy and human rights -- aims to provoke lobby groups
against Turkey. On Feb. 8, DavutoÄ?lu said in speech he delivered in
Ä°stanbul that Turkey has never succumbed to the Jewish, Armenian or
Greek lobbies and that he is determined that that not change.
By creating a fog around the corruption investigation of Dec. 17, 2013
-- which implicated a number of AK Party members, including four
ministers and some of their family members -- anti-Western and
anti-Semitic rhetoric is apparently being employed in an attempt to
distract the attention of the public from the investigation. The
government has characterized the graft probe as part of a `foreign
plot' against Turkey.
The rhetoric of a plot against Turkey by the `evil West' led by the US
with the participation of Israel -- which is sometimes referred to by
ErdoÄ?an as `that country in the south' -- easily finds support among
ErdoÄ?an's conservative voter base in Turkey.
The idea that certain powers `jealous of Turkey's success' are trying
to drag Turkey down by attempting to topple the government has been
used by AK Party officials many times, such as before last year's
March 30 local elections and during the election campaign for the Aug.
10 presidential election.
http://www.todayszaman.com/mobile_detailHeadline.action?newsId=372555
From: A. Papazian
Feb 15 2015
AK Party steps up anti-Israel rhetoric ahead of elections
DENÄ°Z ARSLAN- ANKARA February 14, 2015, Saturday
As a central part of its election campaign strategy, the ruling
Justice and Development »»
As a central part of its election campaign strategy, the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has begun to step
up its anti-Israel rhetoric, and Foreign Minister Mevlüt ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu's
decision not to attend the Munich Security Conference last weekend due
to an Israeli presence has caused concern, given the government's
previous anti-Semitic outbursts.
Apparently aiming to please the conservative voter base of the AK
Party before the June 7 parliamentary elections this year, President
Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an, Prime Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu and ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu
have increased their anti-Israel rhetoric considerably. At the last
minute, Foreign Minister ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu canceled his plans to attend the
Munich Security Conference upon learning that an Israeli
representative would also be attending a session ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu was
scheduled to address. `I was, in fact, going to attend the conference
but we decided not to do so since they added an Israeli representative
to the Middle East session at the last minute,' ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu told
reporters at the Turkish Embassy in Berlin.
Turkey opting out of attending an international conference due to the
attendance of an Israeli representative is unprecedented. Turkey and
Israel used to enjoy good military and political relations until in
2009 then-Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an walked off the stage after an angry
exchange with Israeli President Shimon Peres during a panel discussion
on Gaza at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. During the panel,
ErdoÄ?an told Peres, `When it comes to killing, you know well how to
kill,' then vowed never to return to the annual gathering in Davos.
Diplomatic ties between Turkey and Israel took another downturn in
2010. In May of that year, Israeli commandos killed eight Turkish
citizens and an American of Turkish origin in international waters on
the Mavi Marmara ship. The Mavi Marmara was leading a "Gaza Freedom
Flotilla" carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials for
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli
blockade since 2007. The Israeli ambassador was expelled from Ankara
in September 2011 after Israel refused to apologize for the killings.
Israel formally apologized in 2013 for what it called `operational
mistakes' that might have led to the deaths of the victims.
Turkey and Israel have been negotiating a compensation deal, but an
agreement has not yet been forthcoming.
Following Israel's Gaza offensive in the summer of 2014, ErdoÄ?an's
comments about Israel have caused the rift between the two countries
to grow. ErdoÄ?an said in July that Israel had agreed to lift its
blockade of Gaza as part of normalization talks between Israel and
Turkey but Israel's attack on Gaza reveals that it does not want
normalization and that Turkey would delay the continuation of talks as
a result of the offensive.
Last month, tension increased between Israel and Turkey after
DavutoÄ?lu compared his Israeli counterpart, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, to the perpetrators of recent terrorist attacks in Paris,
saying both had committed crimes against humanity. DavutoÄ?lu said
Israel's bombardment of Gaza and its storming in 2010 of the Mavi
Marmara were on par with the Paris attacks, whose dead included
employees of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and shoppers at a
Kosher supermarket.
ErdoÄ?an's recent criticism of Netanyahu's attendance at a Paris
solidarity march for the Paris attack victims also escalated the war
of words between the former allies. ErdoÄ?an said that while Israel is
committing `state terror' it is hypocritical of Netanyahu to attend a
march supporting freedoms.
Netanyahu responded to ErdoÄ?an by calling his remarks `shameful.'
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman slammed Netanyahu on Feb. 6
for his 2013 apology to Turkey, hours after ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu announced he had
pulled out of the Munich conference. Lieberman said that Turkey's
decision to drop out of the security conference once again proved that
Netanyahu's apology was a `great mistake,' according to reports in the
Israeli media.
The Israeli delegation at the conference was headed by Intelligence
Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz. "ErdoÄ?an's Turkey is a country that
wishes only to attack and to goad Israel," Haaretz quoted Lieberman as
saying. He said Israel must act accordingly "and safeguard Israeli
interests."
Steinitz also released a statement criticizing the Turkish decision.
"Israel will take part in any international conference, whether Turkey
likes it or not," he said, adding that more than hurting Israel, the
decision "casts a heavy shadow on Turkey's future and character.'
With the general election date approaching, Prime Minister DavutoÄ?lu
has also begun to use anti-Semitic rhetoric in his election campaign
speeches. On Feb. 7, speaking at a rally in Sakarya province,
DavutoÄ?lu claimed that Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives in
the US, is trying to provoke the Jewish lobby in the US -- along with
Greek and Armenian lobbies -- against the Turkish government.
Gülen is often a target of AK Party criticism for allegedly
controlling a `parallel state' within the Turkish state. DavutoÄ?lu
claimed that Gülen's Feb. 3 article in The New York Times -- which
called on the Turkish government to reverse its current path and
respect democracy and human rights -- aims to provoke lobby groups
against Turkey. On Feb. 8, DavutoÄ?lu said in speech he delivered in
Ä°stanbul that Turkey has never succumbed to the Jewish, Armenian or
Greek lobbies and that he is determined that that not change.
By creating a fog around the corruption investigation of Dec. 17, 2013
-- which implicated a number of AK Party members, including four
ministers and some of their family members -- anti-Western and
anti-Semitic rhetoric is apparently being employed in an attempt to
distract the attention of the public from the investigation. The
government has characterized the graft probe as part of a `foreign
plot' against Turkey.
The rhetoric of a plot against Turkey by the `evil West' led by the US
with the participation of Israel -- which is sometimes referred to by
ErdoÄ?an as `that country in the south' -- easily finds support among
ErdoÄ?an's conservative voter base in Turkey.
The idea that certain powers `jealous of Turkey's success' are trying
to drag Turkey down by attempting to topple the government has been
used by AK Party officials many times, such as before last year's
March 30 local elections and during the election campaign for the Aug.
10 presidential election.
http://www.todayszaman.com/mobile_detailHeadline.action?newsId=372555
From: A. Papazian