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Turkey's Shift on Israel

Letters to the International Herald Tribune - Turkey's Shift on Israel - NYTimes.com





Turkey’s shift on Israel

Turkey’s frustration over its futile E.U. membership efforts, its over-due awakening to Iran’s growing emergence as a regional “super power” within the Islamic world, along with Ankara’s domestic political concerns are three factors that explain the recent shift in its policy toward Israel. Turkey can no longer be on the losing side; it has to re-adjust its foreign policy to rapidly changing circumstances.

Turkey’s deeply rooted security relationship with Israel, and its counterinsurgency involvement in Afghanistan in its capacity as a NATO member will now undergo an acute review. Its support for the Palestinian cause and its quest for a more dynamic role in the Islamic world will increase. We are bound to hear more of Turkey and its re-found identity.

Israel should acknowledge that, given this momentum, time is not on its side. Tel Aviv should know better than to rely too much on a Western world afflicted with its own problems and its own long-term interests. Israel should seriously consider that the threat it claims it is facing might after all not be originating from Iran but from its own self-defeating policies.

Israel is not doing justice to its history and its prophets. The country must wake up and accept change in the form of a reconciliation with the realities of today, while it can, rather than subjecting itself to further risks.

Dariush Shilati-Fard,Tehran

A letter to editor that too based on wrong assumption that "Iran is emerging as a regional “super power” within the Islamic world" ???????


Lolzzz my two cent. Iran is far from even a power within its own territory what to say about regional power within Islamic world.


Come on BENNY do not bank on Letters to Editor that too a stupid letter without substantial backing argument by the sender
 
why do you mix the arab culture with islam anyway? i am a muslim but i dont give a damn what the arab culture is? i have got my own old culture , language and tradtion and i am proud of it, the same thing goes with the turks.

it is not about right or left, it is about how people see this situation and the politicians have no way out of this but to repect people's opinion.

you should know that this ship was not planned by the turkish gov, it was planned by many activist from all around the world including jews, europeans, and americans.

hope you are not mixing the public with the dictatorships in the ME countries.

Our discussion is going nowhere without any facts. Your assertion was that with this event the Turkey will have renewed respect in the World. I just invited you to bring up any instance of nation/s where Turkey will have gained support with this event and we can then have a realistic dicussion.

General = what you / me / people feel discussion, is subjective and nothing can be ever established.

The incident may not have been planned by the government in Turkey but it cannot be executed without the support of the Turkish government and if there would have been any consequences (as happened) then Turkey would have been most impacted (as is happening).

My objective was not to dispute / corroborate / discuss any of the ideas that you may have regarding the cultural differences / nature of government / people thinking in Arab / non Arab muslim countries. It was just a response to your assertion that Turkey will have gained respect in the Muslim world with this incident. Appreciate your understanding and cooperation in advance of discussing this with facts. Thanks.
 
^^^ i am just reading a report from Lebanon that huge crowd of people are carrying turkish flags and praising turkey for its stance.
 
A letter to editor that too based on wrong assumption that "Iran is emerging as a regional “super power” within the Islamic world" ???????


Lolzzz my two cent. Iran is far from even a power within its own territory what to say about regional power within Islamic world.


Come on BENNY do not bank on Letters to Editor that too a stupid letter without substantial backing argument by the sender

Lets get/analyse all the opinions in our discussion.We have already condemned the attack act by Israelis lets view how much it affects the EU relationships.
 
Morally i condemn the Israeli action. Practically i think no action is possible against them due to various reasons given by many learned counterparts above.
 
A letter to editor that too based on wrong assumption that "Iran is emerging as a regional “super power” within the Islamic world" ???????

Lolzzz my two cent. Iran is far from even a power within its own territory what to say about regional power within Islamic world.

Come on BENNY do not bank on Letters to Editor that too a stupid letter without substantial backing argument by the sender

Iran is not in the middle of a civil war. It is not in total financial turmoil. It has the 2nd largest gas reserves besides natural oil reserves & a very critical geo-political location. Even though if the world may not agree with the thought process in Iran but no one can say that Iran is failing!

Iran today has influence in Iraq / Syria / Palestine / Lebanon in the Islamic world and recent leanings with Turkey (more to do with the PKK challenge). Whatever could be the nature of these influences but they are there!!

That would count only as a second after Saudi Arabia which is established as a clear leader of the Muslim world. So it can be said that Iran's influence is grown albiet for any many geo-political / upmanship reasons in the international polity.

So why be so dismissive of Iran? The only thing that they do not have is a nuclear weapon and with the current dilly dallying of the world, percentages indicate that they will be able to get that too.
 
Turkey gives Israel deadline to free activists


Turkey warned Wednesday of fresh measures against Israel if it failed to free by the evening hundreds of Turkish activists detained in a deadly raid on aid ships bound for the Gaza Strip.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he delivered the warning in a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington Tuesday as he sought her intervention in the crisis over Monday's boarding of the flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean.

"I expressed our absolute determination on the following issue: if our citizens are not released in 24 hours, by tonight in other words, we will review our ties with Israel entirely," he told reporters here.

"No one has the right to prosecute people kidnapped in international waters," he said.

Turkish pressure appeared to be instrumental as Israel said it would free all the pro-Palestinian volunteers and rushed to deport them Wednesday, while Ankara sent three planes to collect its nationals.

Turkey has already recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and scrapped plans for joint military exercises, plunging already poisoned bilateral ties into deep crisis.

At least four Turks were among the nine dead in the bloodshed, which occurred on a Turkish-flagged ship carrying hundreds of activists, mostly Turks.

In another warning issued via Washington, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told US President Barack Obama that Israel risked losing Turkey, its "sole friend" in the Middle East, as he urged action against its "unacceptable lawlessness."

"Israel is faced with the danger of losing its sole friend in the region and the greatest contributor so far to regional peace," his office quoted Erdogan as telling Obama in a one-hour telephone conversation.

"The steps that it will undertake in the coming days will be determining for its position in the region," Erdogan said.

On Tuesday, a furious Erdogan called for an international inquiry and sanctions against Israel over the "bloody massacre." He slammed the Jewish state as "a festering boil in the Middle East that spreads hate and enmity."

Turkey's justice ministry is looking into both domestic and international law to see what action might be undertaken against Israel, Anatolia news agency reported Wednesday.

The three Turkish planes were expected to repatriate about 350 Turkish nationals.

"Our objective is to bring back everybody as well as the bodies," a Turkish diplomat told AFP.

Davutoglu said the aircraft would also take foreign activists.

The Red Crescent said it would bring home 17 wounded on an ambulance plane, kept on stand-by in Tel Aviv.

Two Turks with heavy injuries would remain in hospital in Israel, accompanied by a Turkish doctor, Davutoglu said.

The Turkish authorities are yet to release the identities of the four dead, but local media identified all as devout Muslim men involved in Islamic movements or charities.

A least three of them reportedly wanted to die as "martyrs."

"He was an exemplary man, an exemplary philanthropist. That's why martyrdom suited him very much. Allah gave him a death he desired," the brother-in-law of one of the victims, 61-year-old retired engineer Ibrahim Bilgen, told Anatolia.

Another victim, 39-year-old telephone repairman Ali Haydar Bengi, "wanted to go to Palestine. And he constantly prayed to become a martyr," his wife told the Vatan daily.

The Turkish activists were mobilised by the Foundation of Humanitarian Relief, an Islamist charity which spearheaded the campaign to break Israel's blockade of impoverished Gaza and deliver some 10,000 tonnes of supplies.

The bloody raid triggered daily demonstrations across Turkey, with the most fervent protestors camping outside Israeli missions in Ankara and Istanbul even during the night.

Muslim-majority Turkey became Israel's chief regional ally when the two signed a military cooperation deal in 1996. But ties have taken a sharp downturn since Israel's devastating war on Gaza last year amid vehement criticism from Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government.

Israel blockaded Gaza after its bitter foe, the radical Islamist Hamas movement, was elected to power in the territory three years ago.

© 2010 AFP
This story is sourced direct from an overseas news agency as an additional service to readers. Spelling follows North American usage, along with foreign currency and measurement units.

Turkey gives Israel deadline to free activists
 
Turkey gives Israel deadline to free activists


Turkey warned Wednesday of fresh measures against Israel if it failed to free by the evening hundreds of Turkish activists detained in a deadly raid on aid ships bound for the Gaza Strip.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he delivered the warning in a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington Tuesday as he sought her intervention in the crisis over Monday's boarding of the flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean.

"I expressed our absolute determination on the following issue: if our citizens are not released in 24 hours, by tonight in other words, we will review our ties with Israel entirely," he told reporters here.

"No one has the right to prosecute people kidnapped in international waters," he said.

Turkish pressure appeared to be instrumental as Israel said it would free all the pro-Palestinian volunteers and rushed to deport them Wednesday, while Ankara sent three planes to collect its nationals.

Turkey has already recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and scrapped plans for joint military exercises, plunging already poisoned bilateral ties into deep crisis.

At least four Turks were among the nine dead in the bloodshed, which occurred on a Turkish-flagged ship carrying hundreds of activists, mostly Turks.

In another warning issued via Washington, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told US President Barack Obama that Israel risked losing Turkey, its "sole friend" in the Middle East, as he urged action against its "unacceptable lawlessness."

"Israel is faced with the danger of losing its sole friend in the region and the greatest contributor so far to regional peace," his office quoted Erdogan as telling Obama in a one-hour telephone conversation.

"The steps that it will undertake in the coming days will be determining for its position in the region," Erdogan said.

On Tuesday, a furious Erdogan called for an international inquiry and sanctions against Israel over the "bloody massacre." He slammed the Jewish state as "a festering boil in the Middle East that spreads hate and enmity."

Turkey's justice ministry is looking into both domestic and international law to see what action might be undertaken against Israel, Anatolia news agency reported Wednesday.

The three Turkish planes were expected to repatriate about 350 Turkish nationals.

"Our objective is to bring back everybody as well as the bodies," a Turkish diplomat told AFP.

Davutoglu said the aircraft would also take foreign activists.

The Red Crescent said it would bring home 17 wounded on an ambulance plane, kept on stand-by in Tel Aviv.

Two Turks with heavy injuries would remain in hospital in Israel, accompanied by a Turkish doctor, Davutoglu said.

The Turkish authorities are yet to release the identities of the four dead, but local media identified all as devout Muslim men involved in Islamic movements or charities.

A least three of them reportedly wanted to die as "martyrs."

"He was an exemplary man, an exemplary philanthropist. That's why martyrdom suited him very much. Allah gave him a death he desired," the brother-in-law of one of the victims, 61-year-old retired engineer Ibrahim Bilgen, told Anatolia.

Another victim, 39-year-old telephone repairman Ali Haydar Bengi, "wanted to go to Palestine. And he constantly prayed to become a martyr," his wife told the Vatan daily.

The Turkish activists were mobilised by the Foundation of Humanitarian Relief, an Islamist charity which spearheaded the campaign to break Israel's blockade of impoverished Gaza and deliver some 10,000 tonnes of supplies.

The bloody raid triggered daily demonstrations across Turkey, with the most fervent protestors camping outside Israeli missions in Ankara and Istanbul even during the night.

Muslim-majority Turkey became Israel's chief regional ally when the two signed a military cooperation deal in 1996. But ties have taken a sharp downturn since Israel's devastating war on Gaza last year amid vehement criticism from Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government.

Israel blockaded Gaza after its bitter foe, the radical Islamist Hamas movement, was elected to power in the territory three years ago.

© 2010 AFP
This story is sourced direct from an overseas news agency as an additional service to readers. Spelling follows North American usage, along with foreign currency and measurement units.

Turkey gives Israel deadline to free activists


Let all those other nations read this. Understand aggressive diplomacy.
 
Let all those other nations read this. Understand aggressive diplomacy.

How much would you like to wager most but not all Turks will get released. And relations though from the public perception will remain cold. behind the scenes it will be business as usual militarily.
 
Iran is not in the middle of a civil war. It is not in total financial turmoil. It has the 2nd largest gas reserves besides natural oil reserves & a very critical geo-political location. Even though if the world may not agree with the thought process in Iran but no one can say that Iran is failing!

Iran today has influence in Iraq / Syria / Palestine / Lebanon in the Islamic world and recent leanings with Turkey (more to do with the PKK challenge). Whatever could be the nature of these influences but they are there!!

That would count only as a second after Saudi Arabia which is established as a clear leader of the Muslim world. So it can be said that Iran's influence is grown albiet for any many geo-political / upmanship reasons in the international polity.

So why be so dismissive of Iran? The only thing that they do not have is a nuclear weapon and with the current dilly dallying of the world, percentages indicate that they will be able to get that too.
Its not about the nuclear weapons rather its about Iran's stance over many things and its relations with Islamic or Arab world too.


having warm relations with Hizbullah doesnt make Iran a regional power.

In Iraq it had no power or influence till the time US had attacked Iraq now Iranian support there is worsening the situation in Iraq and we daily see bombing.


Iran's relations with Arabs are not exemplary as well . Currently under looming sanctions and pressure from the world over its nuke program, Iran can not be called regional power in any way.

The large gas or oil reserves can be the fatal reason for any future attack on it overtly or covertly by US
 

Thats gr8 from India..
pakistani Broz dont do silly comments about india,,,India has its own foriegn policy..
Prophet Mohammad Did so many negotiations besides war....They traded with mecca tribals when he was in medina,,,,It gives you an indication that the Prophet will do diplomacy at the same time when he was at the war....
Hope pakistani Broz may believes it..
:pakistan:
 
I am not saying the Israeli Air force isn't experienced they are one of the best everyone knows that.
But...Like I said...You had a knee jerk reaction when I said that Turkey would hesitate on getting into a war against Israel, one of the world's most combat experienced militaries. You imagined a charge that Turkey is inexperienced. The truth is that no matter how much experience or size of a military, even for US, a wise leadership would assess the potential adversary and pay close attention to the level of combat experience and training that potential adversary has. Turkey will not be so foolish as many here would like to get into a shooting fight with Israel over some idiots on a few boats. Israel does not constitute a national security threat to Turkey or to Turkish overseas interests. Getting into a shooting fight with Israel to a stalemate or perhaps even a defeat would be catastrophic to Turkish national and international prestige. This mean the best option for Turkey is to get into an all-out war against Israel over a few idiots on a boat. Those who called for Turkish military action is doing it to satisfy their own anti-Israel passion, not common sense.

I am surprised at your comments like you seem to be under some impression that Turkey is to be compared to Israel's Arab foes.
Yes I do.
 
@gambit

Turks aren't Arabs you idiot. If you really think that you must be dumb. Whatever..

Better go and support your Big Brother Israel and give them back up. Give them a Medal for what they did to Palestine. :tdown:
 
It's understandable why Jigs gets emotional as he is a Turk and the ship being Turkish flagged and his fellow Turks are among the dead.
 
@gambit

Turks aren't Arabs you idiot. If you really think that you must be dumb. Whatever..

Better go and support your Big Brother Israel and give them back up. Give them a Medal for what they did to Palestine. :tdown:
Comparing or opining that the Turkish military is comparable in status or capability to an Arab military is NOT saying that Turks are Arabs. So who is the idiot now, idiot...!!!
 

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