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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan |
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized Israel's conduct in Gaza, saying Ankara cannot be silent when innocent civilians are killed, phosphorus bombs are used, infrastructure is destroyed, and people are forced to live in an open-air prison.
"I am telling the truth… And I will keep telling the truth. Turkey has an age-old history as a state. When you talk to such a state you must be careful.
"When innocent civilians are ruthlessly killed, struck by phosphorus bombs, infrastructure is demolished in bombings, and people are forced to live in an open-air prison… We can not see this as compatible with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, simply human rights, and we can not close our eyes to all this happening," Erdogan said in an interview with the multilingual and pan-European television news network Euronews on Sunday.
On the future of relations between Turkey and Israel, the Turkish prime minister said, "Israel should give some thought to what it would be like to lose a friend like Turkey in the future. The way they recently treated our ambassador has no place in international politics."
After being summoned by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on January 11, the Turkish ambassador to Tel Aviv was made to sit in a chair lower than the Israeli deputy foreign minister's chair and confronted by three other Israeli officials in higher chairs in order to ram home Tel Aviv's displeasure with Ankara. The Turkish flag was deliberately not on display during the meeting. Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol was also spoken to in Hebrew and was refused a handshake.
Erdogan added that Turkey has done its best to improve Israel-Syria relations.
"We have done our best for Israel-Syria relations. But now we see Benjamin Netanyahu saying 'I do not trust Erdogan, but I trust (French President Nicolas) Sarkozy'. Do you have to give a name? This is diplomatic inexperience, too. Because when you say this… How can I trust you if you say you don't trust me?
"We have important ongoing agreements between us. How can these agreements be kept going in this climate of mistrust? I think Israel should take another look at its relations with its neighbors," the Turkish leader stated.
Under the auspices of Turkey, Israel and Syria have held four rounds of indirect talks with the aim of reaching a comprehensive peace agreement. However, the negotiations reached an impasse in September 2009 after the resignation of former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert.
Syria withdrew from the talks in protest against Israel's three-week military offensive in the Gaza Strip from December 2008 to January 2009 in which at least 1,400 Palestinians were killed and 5,400 others were injured.
MP/HGL
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