Tag Archives: turkey

British PM and Turkey: Rue, Britannia!

British Prime Minister David Cameron traveled to Turkey last week “to establish a new partnership between Britain and Turkey,” he stated in an Ankara speech. He described the link as “a vital strategic relationship for our country.”At times, the speech… Continue reading

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Q: What is the difference Between a Turkey and a Man Imitating a Turkey?

Q: What is the difference between a turkey and a man imitating a turkey?A: Only a couple of minutes: a turkey never breaks character.More… Continue reading

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Flotsam & Jetsam

There is an ominous shadow looming over Israel’s recent international missteps. The global rush to judgment against Israel’s interdiction of the Turkish ferry “Mavi Marmara” represents an important barometer of Israel’s decaying public diplomacy.

In less than six months, under its truncated Likud government Israel has managed to alienate its most important regional Muslim ally, Turkey; angered the United Arab Emirates with the botched assassination saga in Dubai; endured expulsion of diplomats from Australia and the United Kingdom – two of Israel’s greatest friends; accorded Hamas’ supporters a public relations bonanza, and kicked settlement construction sand in the eyes of Vice President Biden.

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Is There a Double Standard in the World When It Comes to Demonstrations Over the Killing of Innocent People?

The killing of nine people aboard the ship Mavi Marmara by Israeli commandos brought huge demonstrations and condemnation in the Arab world against Israel. The ship intentionally set sail to defy the blockade established by Israel against Gaza. I do not intend to discuss the propriety of the embargo, the justification or provocation of the voyage or the conduct of the parties on board the ship. The New York Times carried the story as its banner headline. (NYTimes 6/1/10) and television showed the mobs of angry demonstrators in Turkey and elsewhere.

Buried on page 12 of the Times on the same date was the story of gunmen (allegedly part of the Pakistan Taliban) who stormed a hospital in Pakistan and killed at least six people. The local police chief said that “the attackers fired indiscriminately” near the emergency ward of the hospital. It followed an attack by the same group that killed 80 members of the Ahmadis Muslim sect in their mosques in Lahore. The Arab world did not take to the streets over this incident. Terrorists set off bombs and kill innocent people almost everyday, and no one takes to the streets in protest. When Daniel Pearll and Nick Berg were shown on television being beheaded, no one took to the streets in protest. American contractors were murdered, mutilated and their bodies burned, and no one took to the streets in protest. In fact, it appears if anything, their deaths were celebrated in many quarters.

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White House Needs to Rethink Weak U.S. Response to Israeli Attack

White House Needs to Rethink Weak U.S. Response to Israeli Attack

The U.S. State Department response, “Free Gaza Flotilla,” to Israel’s unwarranted attack is tepid and one-sided, reminiscent of statements issued by the George W. Bush administration with the quiet approval of the Israeli government. It undermines the credibility of the Obama administration globally and especially in the Muslim world. While one cannot underestimate the many crises on the president’s plate and the political pressures the administration faces on Israel-Arab relations, the White House statement implicitly endorses a total distortion of the facts on the ground and practically parrots the Israeli Government’s narrative. The administration’s message will be read as communicating that the US does not want the embargo lifted since it is part of their West Bank first policy. Indeed, that may be part of the purpose of the message, but if so, it fails to deal with the realities on the ground and places the US dangerously outside both the parameters that an honest broker would respect and the position of many long-time allies and friends of the US from Turkey to the EU and across the Muslim world

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We Must Take a First Step in Halting Iran’s Quest for the Bomb

On Monday, May 24, 2010, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran delivered a letter to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) outlining Iran’s commitments to export 1200 kg of Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) to Turkey in exchange for fuel assemblies to power the Tehran Research Reactor.

This marked a significant concession from Iran’s previous position, which demanded the exchange take place in small batches, inside Iran’s borders, and simultaneous to the delivery of reactor fuel.

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From Istanbul: Outrage Over a Massacre on the High Seas

Israel has decided that it is better to be perceived as savage than as weak. In its initial attack on the boats carrying human rights activists and humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, Israel’s commandos killed at least nine human rights activists and injured perhaps as many as eighty or more. All those aboard the ships, which were attacked and seized pirate-style in international seas far beyond the legal limits of Israel’s own territorial waters, were arrested and/or deported.

Hours later, during one of the first protests that rose in outrage against the assault on the boats, Israeli troops used tear gas with such force against protesters at the Qalandia crossing between Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, that at least one international supporter, a 21-year-old American woman, was reported undergoing surgery to remove her destroyed eye. By coincidence, I am in Istanbul at the moment. In Turkey, home to most of the dead and injured among the international activists, 10,000 people here in Istanbul marched from the Israeli consulate to the city’s main square, while thousands more took to the streets in Ankara, expressing outrage and demanding international accountability and immediate action to end the blockade of Gaza.

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‘Rachel Corrie’ Aid Ship Headed Toward Gaza

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council called early Tuesday for an “impartial” investigation of Israel’s deadly commando raid on ships taking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and condemned the “acts” that resulted in the loss of at least nine lives.

After an emergency meeting and marathon negotiations that lasted nearly 12 hours, the 15 council members finally agreed on a presidential statement. It was weaker than what was initially demanded by the Palestinians, Arabs and Turkey because of objections by the United States, Israel’s closest ally.

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UN Security Council Members Demand Israel End Blockade

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting Monday on Israel’s deadly commando raid on ships taking humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip, with the Palestinians and Arab nations demanding condemnation and an independent investigation.

The Palestinians and Arabs, backed by a number of council members including Turkey, also called for Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza, immediately release the ships and humanitarian activists, and allow them to deliver their goods.

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Israeli Raid: ‘Bloody, Bungled Takeover’ Deepens Israel’s Isolation

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s bloody, bungled takeover of a Gaza-bound Turkish aid vessel is complicating U.S.-led Mideast peace efforts, deepening Israel’s international isolation and threatening to destroy the Jewish state’s ties with key regional ally Turkey.

And while Israel had hoped to defend its tight blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza with Monday’s high-seas raid, it instead appeared to be hastening the embargo’s demise, judging by initial international condemnation.

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