Jigs
ELITE MEMBER
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Saturday, December 25, 2010
ISTANBUL — Hürriyet Daily News
Turkey has the political will to reconcile with Israel, yet the difficulty to establish political will in the Israeli government complicates the normalization process, according to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.
“Turkey has the will to make peace with Israel,” Davutoğlu said Saturday when asked whether Ankara will normalize ties with the Tel Aviv after a deadly attack by Israeli forces on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla left eight Turks and one American of Turkish descent dead.
“Turkey has the will to make peace with everybody," Davutoğlu said at a press conference Saturday. "Why should Israel remain excluded? It is a country with which we had very good relations until 2008.”
Israel's bombing of Gaza at the end of 2008 was a turning point in the two countries' relations, which began to deteriorate amid Turkey's efforts to mediate between Israel and Syria.
“The fact that we have the will to make peace does not mean that others also have that will. Then this creates difficulty. It is very difficult to establish political will in Israel,” he said, adding that it took only two minutes for the Turkish government to send firefighting planes to help extinguish a major blaze in Israel.
He said it would have taken days for the coalition government in Tel Aviv to decide on whether to send a plane if a similar incident had happened in Turkey.
“The problem, about Israel and this is the problem of the world too, is that there is not a government in Israel that can use political will," he said. "There are conflicting signals coming [from the government]. The rivalry within the coalition is very tough."
The latest effort seeking to capitalize on the diplomatic thaw provided by Turkey's firefighting assistance failed to produce a result; the agreement reached by Turkish and Israeli officials who met twice in Geneva at the beginning of the month has not been approved by both governments.
“What we said from the beginning we are saying now: No friendship of whatever kind can overshadow the fact that Turkish citizens have been killed,” Davutoğlu said. Turkey is asking Israel to apologize and pay compensation to the families of the victims.
Davutoğlu said he will not go to greet the Mavi Marmara, the aid ship raided by Israeli commandos and expected to reach Istanbul on Sunday.
“The initiative had nothing to do with the government. It was an NGO initiative. Not that I am against it. But it was abused," said Davutoğlu. "There is an effort to spread the image that the İHH [Humanitarian Relief Foundation] has links with the Justice and Development Party and that the party has encouraged it."
Davutoğlu said his meeting with Israeli minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer shortly after the crisis and Turkey's participation in the United Nations committee probing the attack show that Ankara wishes to put relations back on track.
ISTANBUL — Hürriyet Daily News
Turkey has the political will to reconcile with Israel, yet the difficulty to establish political will in the Israeli government complicates the normalization process, according to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.
“Turkey has the will to make peace with Israel,” Davutoğlu said Saturday when asked whether Ankara will normalize ties with the Tel Aviv after a deadly attack by Israeli forces on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla left eight Turks and one American of Turkish descent dead.
“Turkey has the will to make peace with everybody," Davutoğlu said at a press conference Saturday. "Why should Israel remain excluded? It is a country with which we had very good relations until 2008.”
Israel's bombing of Gaza at the end of 2008 was a turning point in the two countries' relations, which began to deteriorate amid Turkey's efforts to mediate between Israel and Syria.
“The fact that we have the will to make peace does not mean that others also have that will. Then this creates difficulty. It is very difficult to establish political will in Israel,” he said, adding that it took only two minutes for the Turkish government to send firefighting planes to help extinguish a major blaze in Israel.
He said it would have taken days for the coalition government in Tel Aviv to decide on whether to send a plane if a similar incident had happened in Turkey.
“The problem, about Israel and this is the problem of the world too, is that there is not a government in Israel that can use political will," he said. "There are conflicting signals coming [from the government]. The rivalry within the coalition is very tough."
The latest effort seeking to capitalize on the diplomatic thaw provided by Turkey's firefighting assistance failed to produce a result; the agreement reached by Turkish and Israeli officials who met twice in Geneva at the beginning of the month has not been approved by both governments.
“What we said from the beginning we are saying now: No friendship of whatever kind can overshadow the fact that Turkish citizens have been killed,” Davutoğlu said. Turkey is asking Israel to apologize and pay compensation to the families of the victims.
Davutoğlu said he will not go to greet the Mavi Marmara, the aid ship raided by Israeli commandos and expected to reach Istanbul on Sunday.
“The initiative had nothing to do with the government. It was an NGO initiative. Not that I am against it. But it was abused," said Davutoğlu. "There is an effort to spread the image that the İHH [Humanitarian Relief Foundation] has links with the Justice and Development Party and that the party has encouraged it."
Davutoğlu said his meeting with Israeli minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer shortly after the crisis and Turkey's participation in the United Nations committee probing the attack show that Ankara wishes to put relations back on track.
