Author: Badalian Vardan

ARMENIANS SHOOT DOWN AZERBAIJANI SPY DRONE: SEPARATISTS

Agence France Presse
September 14, 2011 Wednesday 11:29 AM GMT

Armenian forces have for the first time shot down an unmanned
Azerbaijani drone that was flying over the disputed region of Nagorny
Karabakh, the separatist Karabakh defence ministry said on Wednesday.

Unmanned Azerbaijani planes had been making regular reconnaissance
flights along the Karabakh frontline in the days before the drone was
shot down on Tuesday, some of them flying over Armenian-held territory,
the ministry said.

“To prevent flights of this nature, the anti-aircraft forces of
Nagorny Karabakh took appropriate steps,” it said in a statement.

Azerbaijan unveiled its new drones at a showpiece military parade in
June amid continuing tensions over Karabakh, which Armenian separatists
backed by Yerevan seized from Baku in a war in the 1990s that left
around 30,000 dead.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly threatened to use force to win back the
disputed region if internationally-mediated peace negotiations do
not yield satisfactory results.

Yerevan has warned of large-scale retaliation if Baku launches any
military action.

ARMENIA CANNOT HAVE COMPULSORY MILITARY SERVICE FOR WOMEN – MP

news.am
Sept 16 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Armenia cannot have compulsory military service for women.

It is voluntary and takes place under certain conditions, head of the
commission on defense, national security and internal affairs at the
parliament Hrayr Karapetyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“I am not against the increase of number of women serving in the army.

I am against for the serving to be compulsory. We do not have the
Israeli compulsory system for women. But we cannot relate the negative
situation of the army to the absence of women,” he said.

In the discussion, where representatives of Armenian MOD, Military
Prosecutor’s Office, human rights defenders, and lawyers were present,
it was offered to increase the number of contract-based servicemen.

Karapetyan approved the initiative and added that different options
can be discussed. The commission will prepare proposals when the
discussions are over.

RUSSIAN AIRCREWS FLYING TRAINING MISSIONS IN ARMENIA

Interfax
Sept 14 2011
Russia

Air crews of the air unit attached to Russia’s 102nd military base
in Armenia have practiced combat flight techniques aboard MiG-29
multirole fighter jets, the Southern Military District’s press
secretary, Col. Igor Gorbul, told Interfax-AVN on Wednesday.

“The air crews are flying missions to practice air maneuvering in
groups in the entire range of altitudes and speeds. The crews’ flight
time in the past eight months is over 50 hours,” Gorbul said.

Russian pilots go on training flights and maintain their aircraft at
the Erebuni airfield near Yerevan, he said.

Under an intergovernmental agreement, the Erebuni airfield hosts the
Russian airbase. The airbase is attached to Russia’s 102nd military
base and it was switched to MiG-29 multirole fourth-generation fighter
jets in December 1998.

NORWEGIAN “NORSK ENERGY” WILL DEVELOP HYDROPOWER IN ARMENIA

news.am
Sept 15 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – By the support of Norwegian MFA, Norwegian “Norsk Energy”
company will implement the 3-year project of developing hydropower
in Armenia.

It was mentioned at the meeting of Armenia’s vice PM, Minister of
Territorial Administration Armen Gevorgyan with the delegation of
Norwegian “Norsk Energy” company.

The press service of Ministry of Territorial Administration informed
Armenian News-NEWS.am that the three year project considers
the development of the field on the viewpoint of environmental
sustainability and energetic security.

Within the framework of the project a working group will be created.
The project also includes an educational component: by the cooperation
of Armenian and Norwegian universities it is planned to implement
training program for professionals, as well as create a center,
where they can do the trainings.

The Deputy Prime Minister welcomed the initiative, emphasizing that
the issues of hydropower development and diversification of energy
resources are the priorities of the government.

He suggested including the interested departments in the working
group , as well as the representatives of NGO’s.

On behalf of Armenian government Gevorgyan expressed willingness to
support the implementation of the project.

ARMENIA, ARGENTINA LIFT VISA REGIME

news.am
Sept 15 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN.- Armenia and Argentina signed an agreement on Thursday to
lift visa regime.

The agreement will open up opportunities for development of cooperation
between the states, said Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
during the meeting with Argentina’s Deputy FM Alberto D’Alotto
who arrived in Armenia to participate in consultations between the
ministries.

Nalbandian pointed out high level visits between the sates, as well
as efficient cooperation in the international agencies.

In his turn Argentinean official said the country will continue
policy of deepening relations wit Armenia. The sides discussed wide
range of issues of common interest, foreign office’s press service
informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Armenian FM presented recent developments in the Karabakh peace
process, touched upon Armenia’s approach to regional issues.

The meeting was followed by a signing ceremony during which Edward
Nalbandian and Alberto D’Alotto signed an agreement on lifting visa
regime between Armenia and Argentina.

THE ERDOGAN DOCTRINE: TURKEY’S PRIME MINISTER IS OUT TO RESCUE
By Owen Matthews

Newsweek
September 19, 2011

When it comes to bashing Israel, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan is an old hand. He was at it even before he took power in March
2003, castigating the Israeli Defense Force for breaking Palestinians’
heads in the West Bank towns of Jenin and Nablus. He became a hero
in the Arab world two years ago when he stormed out of a Davos
panel discussion after snarling at Israeli President Shimon Peres:
“You know very well how to kill.”

But last week his vitriol reached a new level. In response to Israel’s
continued refusal to apologize for its deadly 2010 commando raid on
a Turkish-owned aid vessel en route to Gaza, he broke off diplomatic
and military relations in all but name, accused Israel of “running
wild” and behaving “like a spoiled child,” promised to take the case
to the International Court of Justice, and swore that in the future
all Turkish aid shipments to Gaza would have naval escorts. “We will
not allow anyone to walk all over our honor,” he fumed.

His talk of trampled honor and gunboats raises the question of who
exactly is the spoiled child. Still, there’s method to Erdogan’s heated
talk. It’s about something more than justice for the nine activists
who were killed aboard the Mavi Marmara as they challenged Israel’s
blockade of Gaza. The Iraq War and the Arab Spring have created a
regional power vacuum, and Erdogan is determined to fill it.

In the past decade he has transformed Turkey, presiding over phenomenal
economic growth and excluding the previously all-powerful Army
from national politics. Now he’s out to bring similarly sweeping
change to the entire region. After winning a third term in office
this June by a larger-than-ever majority, Erdogan portrayed himself
as a neo-Ottoman savior. “Believe me, Sarajevo won today as much
as Istanbul, Beirut won as much as Izmir, Damascus won as much as
Ankara!” he told cheering crowds at a victory speech in the capital.
“The West Bank and Jerusalem won as much as [Turkish Kurdistan’s
leading city] Diyarbakir!”

In line with that expansive vision, Erdogan is championing the one
issue that everyone in the Middle East–everyone other than Israel,
that is–can agree on: the rights of blockaded Gaza. He has praised
Hamas as “resistance fighters who are struggling to defend their land”
and called the blockade “a crime against humanity.” Many Israelis
view him as a mortal enemy of their country. The latest document
spill from WikiLeaks includes an October 2009 U.S. Embassy cable
quoting Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, Gabby Levy, on his assessment
of Erdogan: “Levy dismissed political calculation as a motivator for
Erdogan’s hostility, arguing the prime minister’s party had not gained
a single point in the polls from his bashing of Israel. Instead,
Levy attributed Erdogan’s harshness to deep-seated emotion: ‘He’s a
fundamentalist. He hates us religiously’ and his hatred is spreading.”

Yet the notion of Erdogan as a Jew-hating jihadi doesn’t really fit.
Just before the current standoff, Erdogan sat down to dinner with
the leaders of Turkey’s religious minorities, including the Chief
Rabbi of Istanbul, and promised to return thousands of properties
the Turkish state had confiscated from Christians and Jews in the
past century. He also made a point of praising the “vast diversity
of the people that have peacefully coexisted” in Istanbul. “In this
city the [Muslim] call to prayer and church bells sound together,”
said Erdogan. “Mosques, churches, and synagogues have stood side by
side on the same street for centuries.”

Skeptics might dismiss that attempt at ecumenicalism as just
sweet-sounding bunkum. But what’s very real–and a surer indicator of
where his priorities really lie–is Erdogan’s decision this month to
let NATO deploy antimissile radars near the Turkish-Iranian border.
Tehran is predictably furious. “We expect friendly countries and
neighbors … not to promote policies that create tension, which
will definitely have complicated consequences,” said Iranian Foreign
Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast. In the past, Erdogan has
often called President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “my good friend,” and he
recently opposed new U.N. sanctions on Tehran’s nuclear program. But
when push came to shove, Erdogan sided with Turkey’s friends in NATO,
not in Iran.

His aim is no less than to rescue the entire Middle East from poverty
and dictatorship. To those who know him well, that crusade–for want
of a better term–is a direct extension of his personal religious
conviction. “He’s a very moral man, very serious about righting
injustices,” says one associate of the past 20 years. “If you ask if
that is rooted in his personal view of Islam, the answer is yes.”

Even so, Turkey’s neighbors and allies worry that Erdogan’s latest
face-?off with Israel could be the start of a new foreign policy, one
that focuses on hard power instead of soft. Up to now, Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has pursued a policy of “zero problems with
neighbors,” full of touchy-feely confidence-building measures like
joint historical commissions with Armenia, visa-free travel with
Syria, airport-building contracts with Georgia, cultural exchanges
with Greece, and the like. But Ankara’s stance seems to have suddenly
turned tough. Turkish jets have bombed separatist Kurdish guerrillas
in the mountains of northern Iraq, killing an estimated 160 people,
according to the Turkish military. Davutoglu has begun publicly
calling for Syria’s embattled dictator, Bashar al-Assad, to step down.
And during a planned visit to Egypt this week, Erdogan says he intends
to cross the border into Gaza–a move guaranteed to infuriate Israel.

Saner voices in Israel are trying to downplay the war of words. “The
main thing is not to get confused, not to get into a tailspin,”
Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel Radio last week. “Turkey
is not about to become an enemy of Israel, and we have no cause to
waste invective and energy over this.” The trouble is that Erdogan
gets so much out of confronting Israel: not only does it raise his
stature in the region, but it also dovetails with his self-image as
a fighter for justice. That gives him little incentive to let the
matter rest–especially since he’s been at it for so many years.

POET HENRI COLE READS TONIGHT
John O’Rourke

BU Today (Boston University)
Sept 14 2011
MA

Middle Earth author is Robert Lowell Memorial Lecture speaker

It is no accident that language-and cadence-plays a central role in
Henri Cole’s poems. His mother was Armenian, his father a Southerner
from Virginia. Cole grew up speaking French, Armenian, and English,
an experience, he says, that “made me see language as a prism, instead
of a transparent window.” He began writing poems as a teenager. “I was
a shy young man, but when I put pen to paper, I had things to say,”
he says. “I was sociable.”

Now 55, Cole is one of his generation’s most accomplished poets. The
author of seven collections of poetry and the current poetry editor
of The New Republic, he describes himself as an autobiographical poet.

Many of his poems focus on his parents and his childhood; others
offer glimpses into his romantic longings and relationships. “Memory,”
says Cole, “holds the key to everything.”

Cole will read from his most recent collection, Touch (Farrar, Straus &
Giroux, 2011), tonight as the featured speaker at the Robert Lowell
Memorial Lecture. The semiannual event honors American poet Robert
Lowell, who taught at BU in the 1950s. Among Lowell’s famous students
were Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton.

“Fresh imagination, bold truthfulness about feeling-economy-Henri
Cole’s poems have these qualities, so striking that they make a
lot of the movies, music, and other stuff of our culture look dull
and plodding by comparison,” says Robert Pinsky, a College of Arts &
Sciences professor of English and three-time U.S. poet laureate. “Cole
himself likens his poems to “eggs and bacon with black coffee on
the side” and cites nature and visual art as frequent sources of
inspiration. But sleeping and reading, he says, have been the two
biggest influences on his work: “Reading makes me want to write;
sleep gives me the concentration to do so.”

Cole, who supported himself with a string of entry-level jobs early
in his career, has received numerous honors. His volume Middle Earth
was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2003. He is the recipient of a
Guggenheim Fellowship and a Lenore Marshall Award. The Boston-based
poet teaches at Ohio State University, a job he finds deeply
rewarding. “Young people keep me human,” he says. “I love watching
them discover their voices.”

The Lowell Lecture series pairs a distinguished poet with a recent
graduate of BU’s Creative Writing Program. Appearing with Cole
at tonight’s reading is Sara Peters (GRS’08), a Stegner Fellow at
Stanford University, whose work has appeared in numerous publications.

Peters says she in in awe of Cole’s work and admits to feeling
“absolute honor and absolute terror,” about reading tonight. “I’m
petrified of being boring, so I’ll try to choose short poems with
exciting plot twists.” She says she’s often inspired by “secrets,
abuse, betrayal, guilt, embarrassment, shame, pretense, hyperbole,
sarcasm, empathy, lying, and violence” in her writing.

The Robert Lowell Memorial Lecture is tonight, Wednesday, September 14,
at 7:30 p.m. at The Castle, 225 Bay State Road. The event is free and
open to the public. A book signing and reception immediately follow.

The Robert Lowell Memorial Lectures are funded by Nancy Livingston
(COM’69) and her husband, Fred M. Levin, through the Shenson
Foundation, in memory of Ben and A. Jess Shenson.

QUEBECOIS AND ARMENIAN ARTISTS TAKE THE STAGE IN MONTREAL

ArmeniaDiaspora.com
Sept 14 2011

Epress.am — From 8 to 10 pm on Oct. 1, Québécois and Armenian
artists will be coming together for a gala concert in Montreal,
Canada, according to the concert site.

According to the website, Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay paid a visit
to Armenia in Oct. 2010, during which time a bilateral agreement was
signed with former Yerevan mayor Gagik Beglaryan to make Montreal and
Yerevan sister cities. The agreement was set up to facilitate tourism,
as well as technical and economic cooperation between the two cities.

Furthermore, when Mr. Tremblay returned to Montreal, he declared
October the month of Armenia.

Notable artists participating in the Oct. 1 concert include former
Eurovision contestants representing Armenia Eva Rivas and the
sister-duo Inga and Anush. Québécois artists will be represented by
Daniel Lavois, Isabelle Boulay, Dan Bigras and Marie Élaine Thibert.

The concert will also feature Armenian artists Alla Levonyan, Arthur
Hakobyan, Narine Dovlatyan and Emma Asatryan, as well as the 20
musicians comprising the Armenian Jazz Band.

The event is set to take place at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place
des Arts. Tickets can be reserved online.

Article source:

LETTER TO THE PM FROM HRANT’S FRIENDS

Today’s Zaman
Sept 14 2011
Turkey

Sept. 15 is the birthday of Hrant Dink [the Turkish-Armenian journalist
who was shot to death in 2007]. If he were alive today, he would
turn 57.

If the darkness which creates murderers out of babies had not taken
Dink away from us on Jan. 19, 2007, he would most probably be sipping
his rakı with his grandchildren, family and friends tonight. There
will be a new hearing of the Dink trial on Sept. 19. Another one in a
string of never-ending hearings, the number of which we have forgotten,
and yet, no distance has been covered so far. On such a day, we write
the following letter to the prime minister as Hrant’s friends. Esteemed
prime minister, they have killed our friend, Hrant Dink. Our search
for justice has been to no avail now, five years after his death. The
state to whom we sent a petition seeking justice has sided with the
killers. We have complaints about this.

OUTSPOKEN US PROFESSORS SLAM PALMER REPORT, APPROVE TURKEY’S POSITION

Today’s Zaman
Sept 14 2011
Turkey

Two distinguished professors from the United States have slammed
the UN “Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Inquiry on the 31
May 2010 Flotilla Incident” released in September in relation to an
Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara ship, for its conclusion that the
Gaza blockade of Israel is legal.

“The Palmer-Uribe report is a fundamentally flawed document. It is
simply not possible to make the case that the blockade of Gaza, which
is a clear-cut case of collective punishment, is legal under existing
international law. Furthermore, the four-member committee could not
determine what really happened on the Mavi Marmara because it had no
power to call witnesses and gather evidence,” said John Mearsheimer,
professor of political science at the University of Chicago.

Answering our questions, Professor of International Affairs Stephen
Walt from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government
said: “I believe the Palmer-Uribe report is mistaken about the legality
of the Gaza blockade. It is permissible for Israel to halt the shipment
of weapons into Gaza, but not to block delivery of other items and
not to prevent exports out of Gaza. These actions are punitive,
and should end immediately.”

Professors Mearsheimer and Walt are authors of “The Israel Lobby and
US Foreign Policy,” which was published in late Aug. 2007 and became
a New York Times Best Seller. Describing the Israel lobby as a “loose
coalition of individuals and organizations who actively work to steer
US foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction,” the book focused on
the lobby’s influence on US foreign policy and its negative effect
on American interests.

Before writing the book, the professors had been working on a paper
commissioned by the Atlantic Monthly, which was later rejected and
was published elsewhere attracting considerable controversy, both
praise and criticism.

Prepared by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer
and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and presented to UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sept. 2, the UN panel’s report on the
Mavi Marmara labeled the Israeli raid as “excessive and unreasonable,”
but also claimed that due to Israel’s security concerns, its blockade
of Gaza is legal. The UN panel also blamed Turkey and flotilla
organizers for contributing to the deaths.

Palmer and Uribe were authorized to write the report even though
consensus or unanimity was not established by the UN inquiry committee
which consisted of Turkish and Israeli representatives. The report
was published even though Israel and Turkey had not signed it.

The report contradicted an earlier report on the Gaza flotilla incident
that found Israeli forces had violated international law when they
raided the flotilla. That report had been prepared in September by
three human rights experts appointed by the UN’s top human rights body.

Turkey expelled Israel’s envoy and froze military cooperation with
Jerusalem after the release of the Palmer-Uribe report on the deaths of
nine Turks in the Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara failed to trigger
an apology.

According to Mearsheimer, Turkey’s reaction to the report was correct.

“Indeed, I admire how Turkey has acted toward Israel in recent years.

I think it is about time that someone stood up to Israel and said
loudly and clearly that its behavior toward the Palestinians is
morally reprehensible and must be stopped,” he said.

Walt said that hard-line defenders of Israel will “undoubtedly try
to demonize Turkey” and undermine US-Turkish relations.

“But Turkey can protect itself by explaining its position carefully,
maintaining its democratic character, and emphasizing its desire for
good relations with Washington,” he added.

Answering our questions, Professor Mearsheimer elaborated on the issue.

What is your assessment of the Palmer-Uribe report that the blockade
on Gaza was characterized as being “both legal and appropriate,”
contradicting the UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission, which
had said both the attack on the Mavi Marmara and the Gaza blockade
were illegal?

I think the Palmer-Uribe report is a fundamentally flawed document. It
is simply not possible to make the case that the blockade of Gaza,
which is a clear-cut case of collective punishment, is legal under
existing international law. Furthermore, the four-member committee
could not determine what really happened on the Mavi Marmara because
it had no power to call witnesses and gather evidence. It had to
rely instead on reports from the Israeli and Turkish governments,
and everyone knows that Israel has no interest in getting all the
facts about the Mavi Marmara out on the table. So, the findings were
just not credible. Finally, any committee that has as a member, a
serial human rights violator, like Columbian President Uribe cannot
be taken seriously. In sum, the Palmer-Uribe report was worthless.

What do you think about Turkey’s reaction? Some criticized it as
being too strong and harsh against an old ally.

I think Turkey’s reaction to the report was correct. Indeed, I
admire how Turkey has acted toward Israel in recent years. I think
it is about time that someone stood up to Israel and said loudly
and clearly that its behavior toward the Palestinians is morally
reprehensible and must be stopped. The Palestinians deserve a state
of their own. Some will say [Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdoðan
is anti-Israel. I don’t believe this for a second. I think he is
simply criticizing Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories and
is not challenging the legitimacy of Israel in any way. Hopefully,
more countries in the Arab and Islamic world will follow his lead.

Turkey is planning to challenge Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip
at the International Court of Justice [ICJ]. How do you think the
case would evolve in The Hague, if Turkey took it to the ICJ?

If the case is taken to the ICJ, I think the Israelis fear that the
ICJ would find the blockade illegal, and if I had to bet, I think
the court would do just that.

Do you think following the Palmer-Uribe report conclusions it has
now become legitimate to attack civilian ships in international waters?

I don’t think so, for two reasons: First, it is widely recognized
that the Palmer-Uribe report is largely worthless and second, it is
widely recognized that it is not legal to attack civilian ships in
international waters.

One of the nine killed Turkish citizens was also an American citizen
Furkan Doðan. Yet there was almost no reaction at all from the
US on the deadly flotilla attack. How can one explain the lack of
any reaction? The Israel lobby, maybe? Prime Minister Erdoðan said
recently that he had asked President Barack Obama why the US did not
react to the killing of one its citizens, but he did not get a reply…

It is easy to explain why the United States has shown hardly any
interest in Israel’s killing of Furkan Doðan, who [was also] an
American citizen. It is because of the power of the Israel lobby,
which makes it almost impossible for any US president to get tough
with Israel, even when it kills Americans. Remember, Israel attacked
the USS Liberty in June 1967 and killed 34 American sailors and
wounded another 170. The Israelis maintain that it was a case of
mistaken identity. Hardly anyone who was on that ship accepts that
explanation. Many other Americans agree with them. Yet there has
never been a meaningful investigation of that horrific incident. Also
remember that an Israeli bulldozer killed Rachel Corrie in the Gaza
Strip in March 2003 when she was peacefully protesting the demolition
of a Palestinian home. The US government has done hardly anything to
seek justice for her and her family.

With the democratic movements sweeping the Middle East — the Arab
Awakening — Israel has seen no problem in “losing” Turkey despite
many calls on the Israeli government to apologize. What sort of a
Middle East should Israel brace for in the coming months and years?

Israel is deeply worried about its fractured relationship with Turkey
and with Egypt; those two countries were once solid allies and they
played a key role in allowing Israel to brutalize the Palestinians.

But thankfully those days are gone, and Israel is being isolated in
the Middle East for its behavior toward the Palestinians.

Critics of the Turkish government argue that Ankara will pay dearly
for expelling the Israeli ambassador as the Israel lobby machine has
already started to roll in the US Congress and the administration —
for example, the Armenian “genocide” resolutions may be passed. What
will the repercussions be in the US? How do you think the Israel
lobby will react? How will the Obama administration react?

There is no question that the lobby will cause some problems for
Turkey in the United States, especially with Congress. That is life
in America today. Pro-Israeli forces assail anyone who criticizes
Israeli policy or America’s special relationship with Israel. But
in the end, there is not much that the lobby can do to hurt Turkey,
especially since Washington needs Turkey to remain an ally.

Do you see any connection between the departure of the Israeli
ambassador from Egypt and Turkey’s expulsion of the Israeli ambassador
after the report? Some argue that Turkey’s attitude has created a
chain reaction which will also effect others…

I think the two cases are very different and not connected. Turkey
expelled the Israeli ambassador, but Egypt did not. The Israeli
ambassador to Egypt left the country because protestors stormed the
Israeli embassy and he feared for his life. As I said above, I hope
that Turkey’s attitude toward Israel creates a chain reaction in the
region and moreover I hope that Israel’s growing isolation helps cause
it to change its policies toward the Palestinians. Unfortunately,
I don’t think that is going to happen anytime soon. But let’s hope
I am wrong.

Professor Walt: Hard-line defenders of Israel will undoubtedly try
to demonize Turkey and undermine US-Turkish relations In this part
of the interview, Professor Walt also answered our questions.

What is your assessment of the Palmer-Uribe report in which the
blockade on Gaza is characterized as “both legal and appropriate,”
contradicting the UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission
which said both the attack on Mavi Marmara and the Gaza blockade
were illegal?

I believe the Palmer-Uribe report is mistaken about the legality of
the Gaza blockade. It is permissible for Israel to halt the shipment
of weapons into Gaza, but not to block delivery of other items and
not to prevent exports out of Gaza. These actions are punitive,
and should end immediately.

What do you think about Turkey’s reaction — lowering diplomatic
representation, expelling the Israeli ambassador, suspending all
military agreements, helping those to file a suit against Israel,
to take the blockade to the International Court of Justice and not
recognize the blockade? Is this excessive or striking the right
balance?

Turkey’s reaction is appropriate, insofar as it as peaceful and
diplomatic response in the context of an ongoing dispute. I do hope
that Turkey and Israel are able to resolve the disagreement, because
a more cooperative relationship would contribute to stability in this
volatile region.

Do you think following the Palmer-Uribe report conclusions it has
now become legitimate to attack civilian ships in international waters?

No. Whether such an attack would be legal or not depends entirely on
the specific context. It would be a grave mistake to interpret the
report as providing broad justification for such attacks.

One of the nine Turkish citizens killed on board was also an American
citizen. Yet there was almost no reaction at all from US on the deadly
flotilla attack. How can one explain the lack of any reaction? The
Israel lobby, maybe?

The weak US response to the incident is another sign of its inability
to act as an effective and even-handed mediator in this conflict,
and this is mostly due to the political power of AIPAC [American
Israel Public Affairs Committee] and other hard line groups in the
Israel lobby.

Many Turks believe US worked behind the scenes for a report that would
strongly support Israeli claims, which actually turned out to be the
case. Do you see any credibility in these claims?

I don’t know if this is true or not, but it certainly would not
surprise me.

With the report, Israel has “lost” Turkey. How do you think this will
affect regional politics?

I don’t think Israel has “lost” Turkey permanently, especially if the
Netanyahu government reconsiders its position and offers a formal
apology. I hope this occurs, because cooperation between Turkey
and Israel could be very helpful in dealing with other tensions in
the region.

With the democratic movements sweeping the Middle East — the Arab
Awakening– Israel has seen no problem in “losing” Turkey despite
many calls on the Israeli government to apologize. What sort of a
Middle East should Israeli brace for in the coming months and years?

If Israel continues the occupation, it will gradually become even
more isolated in the region and the world. On the other hand, if
it ends the occupation and allows the Palestinians to have a state
of their own, then its image will improve and it will have little
difficulty building strong relationships with its neighbors. I hope
that happens, and I hope that the United States, the EU, Turkey and
other major powers work together toward that goal.

Critics of the Turkish government argue that Ankara will pay dearly
for expelling the Israeli ambassador as the Israel lobby machine has
already started to roll in the US Congress and the administration —
for example, the Armenian “genocide” resolutions may pass. What will
the repercussions be in the US? How do you think the Israel lobby
will react? How will the Obama administration react?

Hard-line defenders of Israel will undoubtedly try to demonize Turkey
and undermine US-Turkish relations, but Turkey can protect itself
by explaining its position carefully, maintaining its democratic
character, and emphasizing its desire for good relations with
Washington.