BOWING TO PRESSURE, AYALON APOLOGIZES TO TURKEY – AGAIN
By Barak Ravid and Jonathan Lis
Ha’aretz
1142514.html
Jan 14 2010
Israel
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon sent a letter of apology to the
Turkish ambassador yesterday for maltreatment at a meeting earlier
in the week. At the meeting to which Ayalon had summoned the Turkish
envoy, the minister drew the cameramen’s attention to the fact that
Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol had been seated on a lower chair and
no Turkish flag was present.
Yesterday’s letter, issued after pressure was applied by President
Shimon Peres and the former prime minister’s bureau chief, warded
off a downgrading of relations between Israel and Turkey.
"I wish to express my personal respect for you and the Turkish people
and assure you that although we have our differences of opinion on
several issues, they should be discussed and solved only through
open, reciprocal and respectful diplomatic channels between our two
governments," Ayalon wrote.
"I had no intention to humiliate you personally and apologize for
the way the demarche was handled and perceived. Please convey this
to the Turkish people for whom we have great respect. I hope that
both Israel and Turkey will seek diplomatic and courteous channels
to convey messages as two allies should."
The Turkish Foreign Ministry in Ankara released a statement in
response to Ayalon’s apology, saying that "Turkey accepts Israel’s
apology and has lifted the threat to recall its ambassador."
The road to closure was full of zigzags and diplomatic gaffes by
senior Foreign Ministry officials, as well as surprisingly hesitant
behavior by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his deputy had decided to
reprimand the Turkish ambassador as part of the policy the Foreign
Ministry had chosen to "restore national honor". But Ayalon and
Lieberman then had to extricate themselves from the debacle in
Turkish-Israeli relations.
On Tuesday afternoon, 24 hours after the reprimand session, Ayalon
said he did not regret the incident and would not apologize. But late
Tuesday evening he released a statement saying that it was "not my
custom to insult foreign ambassadors, and that "in the future I will
clarify my position by more acceptable diplomatic means."
The statement, which was released to the media, was also sent to
Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, Gabi Levy, who dictated it over the
phone to the director general of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Feridun
Sinirlioglu. "That is not an apology," was the Turkish response.
Haaretz learned that the first apology did not pass muster because
Foreign Ministry officials did not look into whether Turkey would
accept it before they issued it.
The result was a public ultimatum by Turkish President Abdullah Gul
demanding an official Israeli apology by last night, or the Turkish
ambassador would be recalled. The Turkish Foreign Ministry also sent
messages to Jerusalem on the wording of an apology that would end
the affair.
Messages were also relayed via Israel’s embassy in Ankara and through
the former prime minister’s bureau chief, Dov Weissglas, whom the
Turks approached to deliver a message to Lieberman and Ayalon.
Weissglas, who declined to comment to questions from Haaretz, is a
close friend of the two and has served with Ayalon as a "lobbyist"
for the Turkish government in the United States on the matter of the
Armenian genocide.
Yesterday evening, Peres phoned Netanyahu to urge an end to the affair
before irreparable damage was done to relations. The two then phoned
Lieberman, who is currently in Cyprus. Peres then phoned Ayalon and
told him that only an apology would end the affair. Ayalon conceded
and sent the letter just before 8 P.M.
For the first 24 hours after the Ayalon-Celikkol meeting, Netanyahu
did not respond. It was only on Tuesday evening that his bureau
released a statement that Netanyahu objected to the style of the
reprimand meeting. Only after Peres phoned him did he begin to push
for an apology.
"The prime minister hopes the matter has now ended," Netanyahu’s bureau
said in a statement. "The prime minster’s position was consistent
throughout the affair. The prime minister is concerned over the
distancing of Turkish-Israeli relations and has directed officials
to seek ways to halt this trend."
Speaking yesterday to the Knesset about the affair, Ayalon said that
"I think today Israel is respected more, her positions are considered
more, and we will continue to behave in a proper, respectable way
that protects Israel’s interests." Ayalon said he believed that Israel
and Turkey would both benefit from the affair in the end.