ERDOGAN SLAMS ISRAEL, CALLS FOR INTEGRATION WITH ARAB WORLD
Today’s Zaman
Nov 26 2010
Turkey
Israel’s disproportionate use of force against civilians, along with
Turkey’s firm will to integrate with Arab countries despite epithets
of an “axis shift in foreign policy,” were the two main themes of
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan’s messages delivered during a
two-day official visit to Lebanon.
On Thursday, the second day of his visit, when he was accompanied by a
full delegation that included several ministers of his cabinet, Erdoðan
received a leadership award granted by the Beirut-based Union of Arab
Banks (UAB). “What can be more natural than that?” Erdoðan asked in
his speech at an award ceremony at the UAB headquarters as he recalled
that, in the past few years, Turkey has engaged in “strategic dialogue”
with both the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
“Believe me. Those who start and continue a debate of axis shift by
misinterpreting our rapprochement with Arab countries are driving
an evil-minded campaign. Actually, they are envy of our solidarity;
their aim is something else,” Erdoðan was quoted as saying by the
Anatolia news agency.
Turkey and Lebanon signed an agreement to abolish visa requirements
for their nationals in a bid to boost trade, tourism and economic
co-operation in early January, while Syria, Jordan and Libya removed
visa requirements for Turkish nationals in deals concluded last year.
Turkey’s strengthened ties with Middle Eastern countries, including
Iran, led to debates on whether the long-time NATO country is drifting
east and no longer committed to its bid for becoming a full member
of the European Union.
In his speech, Erdoðan eventually brought the issue to Israel and
its illegitimate use of violence against civilians.
“You enter Lebanon with the most modern planes and tanks, you bomb
without regard for children, women, civilian, school or hospital
and then you expect us to keep silent,” Erdoðan said, referring to
Israel’s devastating war against Hezbollah in the summer of 2006,
which killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and
160 Israelis, mainly soldiers. “You enter Gaza with your most modern
weapons, your missiles, your cluster bombs; you massacre children at
school, in playgrounds and in flower fields and then you expect us
to keep silent,” Erdoðan went on saying.
Piracy, state terror Relations between former allies Israel and
Turkey took a nosedive following an Israeli offensive in Gaza in the
winter of 2008-2009, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,400
Palestinians. The tensions peaked when Israeli commandos killed
eight Turks and one Turkish-American on an aid ship trying to break
the Israeli blockade of Gaza on May 31 and relations have been at a
standstill since then.
“You commit piracy in the Mediterranean, you launch state terror in
the Mediterranean, you bloodthirstily slaughter my nine innocent
citizens who were taking food to babies and then you expect us to
keep silent. We will not keep silent,” Erdoðan said.
Referring to Israel’s violent acts in Lebanon and Gaza, Erdoðan on
Wednesday said that nobody should have doubts that Turkey will continue
calling “a murderer a murderer” in the name of peace and justice.
“The Israeli government should from now on see and comprehend that
regional peace will be in its own favor as well as in the region’s
favor. If there is war and conflict in the region, both the region’s
people and its own citizens will be harmed. Therefore, we invite the
Israeli government to offer an apology and turn its face towards peace,
both for the peoples of the region and for itself,” Erdoðan said in
a speech delivered in the Turkmen village of Kwashra in the northern
Lebanese region of Akkar on Wednesday, with Lebanese Prime Minister
Saad Hariri standing next to him.
Erdoðan’s visit to the volatile Middle Eastern country came as concerns
were high that Hezbollah might attempt a coup in Lebanon in the face
of a UN probe after a Canadian television station suggested that a
UN tribunal had implicated members of the Shiite militia Hezbollah
in the 2005 killing of Lebanese ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Many fear that Lebanon could erupt into violence should the UN-backed
tribunal indict Hezbollah members over the assassination, an outcome
that the Shiite militia say they will not accept.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Erdoðan late on Wednesday,
Saad Hariri expressed support for the UN-backed tribunal’s
investigation into the assassination of his politician father,
while the former reiterated Turkey’s support for a stable Lebanese
government.
Indicating that he was in contact with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
concerning his meetings with different political groups in Lebanon,
Erdoðan added he would hold talks with Lebanese opposition groups
before his departure from Beirut on Thursday. It was not clear whether
those groups included Hezbollah when Today’s Zaman went into print.
At the conference, Erdoðan also said the two countries had signed a
partnership agreement to set up a free-trade zone.
Different reactions to visit Erdoðan was given a hero’s welcome on his
arrival in Lebanon, with supporters waving Turkish flags and posters
to greet him on the streets. But on Thursday, hundreds of Lebanese of
Armenian descent clashed with Lebanese army troops during a protest
over his visit.
Erdoðan was inaugurating a hospital in the southern port city of Sidon
as protesters gathered in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square. When demonstrators
tore up a large poster of Erdoðan and pelted troops with rocks,
security responded by beating up a number of them. There were no
reports of major injuries. Lebanon has 150,000 Armenians, nearly 4
percent of its population, who harbor deep animosity toward Turks over
the 1915 killing of Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire.
From: A. Papazian