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NETANYAHU RESPONDS TO ERDOGAN'S PROVOCATIONS
Al-Monitor
Jan 21 2015
Author: Arad Nir
Posted January 20, 2015
The election atmosphere that is starting to dominate Israel's public
discourse is having an impact on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
approach to the Turkish arena. For a long time he maintained the
vow of silence he imposed upon himself, and intentionally avoided
referring to any outspoken comments about him or the State of Israel by
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Now it seems as if Netanyahu
has decided that continuing this policy of self-restraint could
be perceived as weakness by the electorate, and that it gives his
political rivals on the right materials with which to attack him.
Netanyahu initially held back when the Turkish president condemned
his participation in the Paris anti-terrorism march Jan. 11, asking,
"How can you see this individual who carries out state terrorism
by massacring 2,500 people in Gaza waving his hand?" In contrast
with Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman quickly reacted to
Erdogan's imagery and demagoguery. Speaking to a gathering of Israeli
ambassadors, which took place in Jerusalem on Jan. 14, he called the
Turkish president "an anti-Semitic neighborhood bully," and spoke
accusingly of how "the silence of the lambs of cultured Europe,
politically correct Europe, toward ... Erdogan and his friends,
brings us back to the reality of the 1930s."
It seems as if this aggressive rhetoric ultimately convinced Netanyahu
that this time around he would no longer be obliged by protocol. For
the first time in public, the prime minister used his meeting with
members of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC (the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee) to publicly denounce Erdogan's comments and
disassociate himself from them. Netanyahu even tied the "required"
condemnation in with the war on terrorism, emphasizing this by saying,
"I think the war against terror will not succeed if it´s founded
on hypocrisy."
It was no coincidence that Netanyahu chose his meeting with AIPAC
to respond to Erdogan's attacks. A senior diplomatic official in
Jerusalem told me, "The new Congress that will be sworn in this
week in Washington is a lot less friendly to Turkey than any of the
other congresses that were elected recently." The statement implied
a threat as well, since on April 24 of this year, Armenians around
the world will mark the 100-year anniversary of the "Medz Yeghern"
("Great Crime"), the genocide they claim the Ottoman Turks committed
against the Armenian people.
This year, as every year, the US president and Congress will be asked
to debate the sensitive issue of recognizing the Armenian genocide.
For many years, Israel used AIPAC to prevent Congress from recognizing
this genocide, all as a token of Israel's friendly relationship with
Turkey. In discussions now being held in Jerusalem, however, there are
those who believe that it is time to remove the gloves and spearhead
a response that will embarrass Turkey in the international arena.
Meanwhile, the statements by Netanyahu and Liberman have hardly caused
Turkish officials to tone down the rhetoric, and the rift between the
two heads of state is only growing deeper. The Presidential Palace in
Ankara is frustrated by the fact that the Israeli prime minister has
delayed the completion of the reparations agreement over the killing
of Turkish activists on board the Mavi Marmara for more than a year
now. The agreement is supposed to formalize relations between the
two countries and lead to the exchange of ambassadors. Senior Turkish
officials spoke out in favor of the agreement last year on more than
one occasion, which is yet to be approved by Israel.
For its part, Turkey has been increasing its support more and more for
the Palestinians. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is a regular
guest in government palaces throughout Ankara, and the head of the
political bureau of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, who was asked to leave
Qatar, at least according to reports in the Arab media, is a welcome
guest in Turkey as well.
Netanyahu's comments about radical Islam after the wave of attacks
in Paris, and his call for Europe to stand beside Israel in its war
against Islamic terrorism, figured prominently in the Turkish press.
Meanwhile, Europe has intimated its dissatisfaction with Netanyahu's
remarks and with the linkage he makes between the threats faced by
Israel and those faced by Europe. These remarks are perceived in Europe
as an attempt to avoid a discussion about the Israeli occupation. At
the same time, Europe is also choosing to ignore Erdogan's verbal
assaults on Israel, while he continues his increasingly extreme
rhetoric. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu accused Netanyahu of
various provocations, from the killing of innocents in Gaza to the use
of violence against Muslims in Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. This,
he claimed, was what was causing Muslims to become extremists.
Ever since the 2009 Davos incident, in which he attacked former
Israeli President Shimon Peres and especially since the 2010 Mavi
Marmara flotilla events, Erdogan has been using the protection he
has afforded to the Palestinians to position himself as the defender
of the entire "Islamic people," the ummah -- that religious entity
transcending national boundaries, once headed by the Ottoman sultan.
In order to relay this message, he organized a photo session with Abbas
on Jan. 12, with the two men standing before a grotesque formation of
16 soldiers dressed as janissaries, or the sultan's bodyguards, in the
uniforms of the 16 empires run by the Ottoman Turks throughout history.
As someone who perceives himself as a successor to the sultans,
Erdogan allows himself to attack Europe too, even if he is still
trying, at least formally, to be accepted into their union of nations.
That is not enough to stop him from accusing Europe of Islamophobia
and racism.
Nor was Erdogan pleased with the special issue of Charlie Hebdo
mourning the tragic event. In fact, the Turkish president was the
first to attack the issue as a provocation deserving of punishment,
and to demand in the name of all Muslims, "an attitude of respect to
the Prophet Muhammad."
Despite Israel's protests and complaints, both public and through
acceptable diplomatic channels, the Turkish president and his prime
minister continue their outspoken assaults on Israel, in ways that
are often reminiscent of the behavior and language of former Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Immediately after the march of world leaders in Paris, a senior
official in the Israeli prime minister's entourage told me that
Netanyahu didn't even consider shaking hands with Abbas, who was
originally positioned just two world leaders from him. "His unilateral
appeal to the Security Council and the International Criminal court
in The Hague eliminated any possibility for dialogue," he said. When
I asked him about a handshake with the Turkish prime minister, who
was also in the first line of marchers, the same senior official
answered that the chances of that happening were "even less."
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/01/erdogan-netanyahu-paris-march-statements-aipac-marmara.html
From: A. Papazian
Al-Monitor
Jan 21 2015
Author: Arad Nir
Posted January 20, 2015
The election atmosphere that is starting to dominate Israel's public
discourse is having an impact on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
approach to the Turkish arena. For a long time he maintained the
vow of silence he imposed upon himself, and intentionally avoided
referring to any outspoken comments about him or the State of Israel by
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Now it seems as if Netanyahu
has decided that continuing this policy of self-restraint could
be perceived as weakness by the electorate, and that it gives his
political rivals on the right materials with which to attack him.
Netanyahu initially held back when the Turkish president condemned
his participation in the Paris anti-terrorism march Jan. 11, asking,
"How can you see this individual who carries out state terrorism
by massacring 2,500 people in Gaza waving his hand?" In contrast
with Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman quickly reacted to
Erdogan's imagery and demagoguery. Speaking to a gathering of Israeli
ambassadors, which took place in Jerusalem on Jan. 14, he called the
Turkish president "an anti-Semitic neighborhood bully," and spoke
accusingly of how "the silence of the lambs of cultured Europe,
politically correct Europe, toward ... Erdogan and his friends,
brings us back to the reality of the 1930s."
It seems as if this aggressive rhetoric ultimately convinced Netanyahu
that this time around he would no longer be obliged by protocol. For
the first time in public, the prime minister used his meeting with
members of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC (the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee) to publicly denounce Erdogan's comments and
disassociate himself from them. Netanyahu even tied the "required"
condemnation in with the war on terrorism, emphasizing this by saying,
"I think the war against terror will not succeed if it´s founded
on hypocrisy."
It was no coincidence that Netanyahu chose his meeting with AIPAC
to respond to Erdogan's attacks. A senior diplomatic official in
Jerusalem told me, "The new Congress that will be sworn in this
week in Washington is a lot less friendly to Turkey than any of the
other congresses that were elected recently." The statement implied
a threat as well, since on April 24 of this year, Armenians around
the world will mark the 100-year anniversary of the "Medz Yeghern"
("Great Crime"), the genocide they claim the Ottoman Turks committed
against the Armenian people.
This year, as every year, the US president and Congress will be asked
to debate the sensitive issue of recognizing the Armenian genocide.
For many years, Israel used AIPAC to prevent Congress from recognizing
this genocide, all as a token of Israel's friendly relationship with
Turkey. In discussions now being held in Jerusalem, however, there are
those who believe that it is time to remove the gloves and spearhead
a response that will embarrass Turkey in the international arena.
Meanwhile, the statements by Netanyahu and Liberman have hardly caused
Turkish officials to tone down the rhetoric, and the rift between the
two heads of state is only growing deeper. The Presidential Palace in
Ankara is frustrated by the fact that the Israeli prime minister has
delayed the completion of the reparations agreement over the killing
of Turkish activists on board the Mavi Marmara for more than a year
now. The agreement is supposed to formalize relations between the
two countries and lead to the exchange of ambassadors. Senior Turkish
officials spoke out in favor of the agreement last year on more than
one occasion, which is yet to be approved by Israel.
For its part, Turkey has been increasing its support more and more for
the Palestinians. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is a regular
guest in government palaces throughout Ankara, and the head of the
political bureau of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, who was asked to leave
Qatar, at least according to reports in the Arab media, is a welcome
guest in Turkey as well.
Netanyahu's comments about radical Islam after the wave of attacks
in Paris, and his call for Europe to stand beside Israel in its war
against Islamic terrorism, figured prominently in the Turkish press.
Meanwhile, Europe has intimated its dissatisfaction with Netanyahu's
remarks and with the linkage he makes between the threats faced by
Israel and those faced by Europe. These remarks are perceived in Europe
as an attempt to avoid a discussion about the Israeli occupation. At
the same time, Europe is also choosing to ignore Erdogan's verbal
assaults on Israel, while he continues his increasingly extreme
rhetoric. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu accused Netanyahu of
various provocations, from the killing of innocents in Gaza to the use
of violence against Muslims in Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. This,
he claimed, was what was causing Muslims to become extremists.
Ever since the 2009 Davos incident, in which he attacked former
Israeli President Shimon Peres and especially since the 2010 Mavi
Marmara flotilla events, Erdogan has been using the protection he
has afforded to the Palestinians to position himself as the defender
of the entire "Islamic people," the ummah -- that religious entity
transcending national boundaries, once headed by the Ottoman sultan.
In order to relay this message, he organized a photo session with Abbas
on Jan. 12, with the two men standing before a grotesque formation of
16 soldiers dressed as janissaries, or the sultan's bodyguards, in the
uniforms of the 16 empires run by the Ottoman Turks throughout history.
As someone who perceives himself as a successor to the sultans,
Erdogan allows himself to attack Europe too, even if he is still
trying, at least formally, to be accepted into their union of nations.
That is not enough to stop him from accusing Europe of Islamophobia
and racism.
Nor was Erdogan pleased with the special issue of Charlie Hebdo
mourning the tragic event. In fact, the Turkish president was the
first to attack the issue as a provocation deserving of punishment,
and to demand in the name of all Muslims, "an attitude of respect to
the Prophet Muhammad."
Despite Israel's protests and complaints, both public and through
acceptable diplomatic channels, the Turkish president and his prime
minister continue their outspoken assaults on Israel, in ways that
are often reminiscent of the behavior and language of former Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Immediately after the march of world leaders in Paris, a senior
official in the Israeli prime minister's entourage told me that
Netanyahu didn't even consider shaking hands with Abbas, who was
originally positioned just two world leaders from him. "His unilateral
appeal to the Security Council and the International Criminal court
in The Hague eliminated any possibility for dialogue," he said. When
I asked him about a handshake with the Turkish prime minister, who
was also in the first line of marchers, the same senior official
answered that the chances of that happening were "even less."
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/01/erdogan-netanyahu-paris-march-statements-aipac-marmara.html
From: A. Papazian