Turkish Forum

Month: June 2010

  • New Aid Boats Head to Gaza; UN Condemns Israel Killings

    New Aid Boats Head to Gaza; UN Condemns Israel Killings

    Updated: 3 hours 54 minutes ago

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    Lauren Frayer Contributor

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    (June 1) -- Pro-Palestinian activists are promising to send two more boats to try to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, a day after Israeli commandos killed at least nine people in a bloody raid the U.N. condemned after a contentious all-night session. Israel is deporting 50 of the activists it captured on Monday, but says it will continue to hold more than 600 others, including an unidentified American who shouted to reporters as he was being hauled away: "There are bruises all over my body. ... They won't let me show them to you."
    Israel Defence Force / AP
    One of several Israeli commandos drops onto the Mavi Marmara ship by helicopter in the Mediterranean Sea on Monday. The commandos clashed with pro-Palestinian activists in a raid that left nine passengers dead.
    The U.N. Security Council issued a statement at nearly 2 a.m. EDT in which it said it "deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza." It called on Israel to release all civilians and allow countries to retrieve their dead. A "prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation" is needed, the U.N. said. But the statement was weaker than what was initially demanded by Arab nations and Turkey. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he regretted any "loss of life" but defended his military's actions in storming the humanitarian flotilla on Monday, saying Israeli commandos "had to defend themselves, defend their lives, or they would have been killed." Israel contends that its soldiers were attacked by passengers as they boarded one of the ships, and fired only in self-defense. Netanyahu cut short a trip to Canada and canceled a meeting with President Barack Obama, scheduled for today in Washington, to return home to deal with the crisis.
    More Coverage: - Raid May Be Blow to Israel Itself Opinion: - Fiasco Should Spur Peace Talks
    Obama voiced "deep regret" over the killings, and the White House said he "expressed the importance of learning all the facts and circumstances" surrounding the confrontation. Turkey's prime minister accused Israel of "state terrorism." Later today, NATO ambassadors plan to hold emergency talks at Turkey's request. It's been three years since Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, a semi-autonomous territory of 1.5 million Palestinians, after the extremist Islamic political party Hamas, which had been elected in 2006, put down a challenge by the more moderate Fatah party. Only sporadic aid shipments have been allowed to reach Gazans since then, and aid groups say the population faces serious shortages of food, water and medical supplies. Monday's flotilla -- three cargo ships and three passenger ferries -- was carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian supplies like wheelchairs and water purification equipment, organizers said. Its passengers were mostly Turkish but also are believed to include Americans, Britons, Canadians, Australian journalists and three German lawmakers. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate from Northern Ireland, Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, was initially reported to be on Monday's flotilla, but the Irish Times reports today that she was on another aid ship, the MV Rachel Corrie, due to arrive in Gazan waters Wednesday. Former U.N. assistant secretary general Denis Halliday is also aboard. The ship is named after an American college student who was killed in 2003 by an Israeli military bulldozer while trying to block Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes in Gaza.
    Israel has not identified any of the nine people killed or the 34 wounded on Monday. One of the groups that organized the flotilla, the Free Gaza Movement, said today that another cargo boat is off the coast of Italy, heading to Gaza. A second vessel with three dozen passengers is expected to join it, spokeswoman Greta Berlin told The Associated Press. It's unclear whether the MV Rachel Corrie is one of those ships. "This initiative is not going to stop," Berlin said from the group's base in Cyprus. "We think eventually Israel will get some kind of common sense. They're going to have to stop the blockade of Gaza, and one of the ways to do this is for us to continue to send the boats." Berlin disputes the Israeli military's account of what happened. Israel says the activists were armed with knives and clubs, and that they snatched at least two Israeli soldiers' pistols and fired them as the troops rappelled down onto their ship from helicopters. But Berlin and others say the activists were not armed and did not attack first. The group has posted video of the scuffle which it believes proves its version of events. The Israeli military in turn posted its own video, but both clips are grainy and could be interpreted in different ways.
    Filed under: World, Top Stories

  • Sassounian’s column of June 3, 2010

    Sassounian’s column of June 3, 2010

    Cancellation of Erdogan’s Argentina Trip
    Is the Price Turkey Pays for Genocide
    Not satisfied with its neo-Ottoman policies of regional domination, Turkey has decided to extend its influence far and wide, to the four corners of the globe.
    While making inroads into the Islamic world by pretending to sympathize with Palestinian suffering, Turkey has alienated Israel, its long-standing political and military partner, and its NATO allies.
    Encouraged by his much publicized recent visit to Iran with Brazil’s President, and anxious to counter growing recognition of the Armenian Genocide by South American countries, Prime Minister Erdogan embarked last week on his first trip to Argentina, Brazil and Chile.
    In paving the way for that visit, Turkey’s Ambassador in Argentina had worked diligently with local officials to allow Erdogan, accompanied by seven ministers and 300 businessmen, to inaugurate the installation of Kemal Ataturk’s bust in a major Buenos Aires park.
    In response to the Turkish Ambassador’s lobbying efforts, the local Armenian community launched a counter-attack, placing paid announcements in two major newspapers and asking Buenos Aires City officials not to honor Ataturk, blaming him for continuing the genocide initiated by the previous Young Turk regime.
    Armenians also objected to Erdogan’s visit, accusing him of heading a denialist government.
    Buenos Aires officials responded positively to Armenian concerns, because of long-standing cordial ties with the local community. Moreover, in recent years, the city government had published two textbooks on the Armenian Genocide, which are used in city schools. Importantly, these books include references to Ataturk’s role in continuing the genocidal activities of his predecessors.
    Ultimately, what caused the collapse of the Turkish scheme was the discovery that Turkey’s Ambassador had attempted to deceive Buenos Aires City officials. He had falsely claimed that he was merely requesting permission to replace Ataturk’s bust, which had been supposedly missing for several years. The Ambassador had asked for a prompt decision from city officials in order to have Ataturk’s bust unveiled during Prime Minster’s visit to Argentina on May 31.
    Upon review of the Turkish Ambassador’s demands, Buenos Aires officials discovered that there had never been a bust of Ataturk in that park. The missing bust actually was that of a well-known Egyptian human rights activist. Argentina’s large Arab community was extremely unhappy learning that the Turkish Ambassador, using false pretenses, was trying to replace their beloved hero’s missing bust with that of Ataturk.
    Turkey’s envoy must have intentionally misrepresented the facts, knowing full well that city officials would not agree to pass a law allowing the installation of Ataturk’s bust. The Ambassador tried to trick them by requesting a permit simply to replace the “missing” bust.
    When Erdogan found out that there would not be an installation of Ataturk’s bust, he asked Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner to overrule city officials. However, Kirchner explained that she was not empowered to take such action, because Buenos Aires had an autonomous government and any attempt to interfere in local matters would violate Argentina’s democratic constitution.
    Despite the fact that Erdogan is an Islamist and not an Ataturk admirer, he had no choice but to defend “the honor” of Turkey’s revered founder and national hero. Otherwise, the Prime Minister would have come under severe attack back home from Turkish nationalists and the powerful military.
    Recent polls show that his party (AKP), for the first time since coming to power, has fallen slightly behind the opposition Kemalist Party (CHP), which could spell trouble for the Prime Minister in next year’s parliamentary elections. Under these circumstances, Erdogan was forced to cancel his much-touted trip to Argentina, after visiting Brazil. Not surprisingly, the Turkish foreign ministry angrily denounced the Armenian community of Argentina for undermining Prime Minister’s critical visit.
    This is the first time that the Prime Minister of Turkey has been forced to cancel an overseas trip due to the vigilance of an Armenian community.
    Argentinean-Armenians must be commended for their effective activism. Armenian communities worldwide should follow their footsteps by taking legally appropriate actions to cause cancellation of visits by Turkish officials, annulment of military and commercial contracts, and disruption of diplomatic relations with Turkey, including the recall of its ambassadors.
    Turkey’s leaders should be constantly reminded of the massive crimes committed by their predecessors. As long as the Turkish government does not acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and make appropriate amends, it should be made to pay a heavy political and economic price for years to come!
  • U.S., Israeli ties just got more complicated

    U.S., Israeli ties just got more complicated

    Raid on Gaza flotilla could also take momentum away from Iran pressure

     
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    Anger spreads Israel's raid of the aid flotilla sparked protests in several countries.
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    Israel detains activists, ships from flotilla While the U.N. condemns Israel’s deadly raid on a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza, the intercepted ships and the pro-Palestinian activists aboard are being held in an Israeli port. NBC’s Tom Aspell reports.
    By Glenn Kessler
    updated 12:26 a.m. ET June 1, 2010
    The worldwide condemnation of the deadly Israeli assault on the Gaza aid flotilla will complicate the Obama administration's efforts to improve its tense relations with Jerusalem and will probably distract from the push to sanction Iran over its nuclear program. The timing of the incident is remarkably bad for Israel and the United States. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Obama were scheduled to meet Tuesday in Washington as part of a "kiss and make up" session. The United Nations, meanwhile, was set to begin final deliberations on Iran in the weeks ahead. Now the White House talks have been scrubbed, Israel's actions were the subject of an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Monday and the administration increasingly faces a difficult balancing act as Israel's diplomatic isolation deepens. In contrast with forceful statements from European, Arab and U.N. officials — and impromptu demonstrations from Athens to Baghdad — the White House responded to the assault Monday by saying only that Obama had held a phone conversation with Netanyahu in which the prime minister expressed "deep regret at the loss of life" and "the importance of learning all the facts and circumstances around this morning's tragic events." Hours later, the State Department issued a statement saying that the United States remains "deeply concerned by the suffering of civilians in Gaza" and "will continue to engage the Israelis on a daily basis to expand the scope and type of goods allowed into Gaza." Even before Monday's incident, Israel was on shaky diplomatic ground. After the government was accused of using forged foreign passports in the assassination of a Palestinian militant in Dubai, Britain expelled an Israeli diplomat in March. Australia did the same last week. 'Terrible for Israel-Turkey relations' The latest furor may have caused irreparable harm to Israel's relations with Turkey — a Muslim state with which Israel has long had close ties — because so many of those onboard were Turkish. At the United Nations, Turkey's foreign minister urged the Security Council to condemn Israel's raid and set up a formal inquiry to hold those responsible for it accountable.
    Video
    Video of raid May 31: Israeli commandos rappelled from helicopters onto the lead boat, a Turkish cruise liner carrying hundreds of activists. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.
    Nightly News
    "This is terrible for Israel-Turkey relations," Namik Tan, the Turkish ambassador to the United States, said in an interview. "I am really saddened by it." Tan, who served as ambassador to Israel from 2007 through 2009, said Israel's actions demand condemnation from every country because the flotilla incident took place in international waters and involved civilians on a humanitarian mission. But he said the Obama administration's initial statement was wanting. "We would have expected a much stronger reaction than this," he said. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will be in Washington on Tuesday to discuss Iran with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, but Turkey's fury over the Gaza incident will inevitably top the agenda. Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator now at the New America Foundation in Washington, said it's not the first time Israel has done itself a disservice. "Israel constantly claims it wants the world to focus on Iran, but then it ends up doing something that gets everyone to focus on itself," he said. Focus on humanitarian situation Apart from the raid, attention is likely to fall on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, which has faced an Israeli blockade since the Hamas militant group seized power three years ago. Although the Obama administration has pressed quietly for less onerous restrictions on trade, it has not questioned Israeli policies. Special envoy George J. Mitchell has never visited Gaza in about a dozen trips to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Without high-level attention, the situation in Gaza — a narrow coastal area with 1.5 million people — has faded from view. Now that might change. Robert Malley, Middle East director for the International Crisis Group, said Monday's deaths were a consequence of ignoring the "unhealed wound that is Gaza." In condemning Israel's actions Monday, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton signaled that the European Union would press anew for a shift in policy. "The E.U. does not accept the continued policy of closure," she said in a statement. "It is unacceptable and politically counterproductive. We need to urgently achieve a durable solution to the situation in Gaza."
    Click for related content
    Arab countries want tough U.N. response Bloody Israeli raid on flotilla sparks crisis Israeli commandos describe raid Newsweek: Raid highlights failure of blockade Newsweek: Turkish anger a problem for Israel
    'High on Obama's agenda' Malley said U.S. officials have told him that the situation in Gaza "is very high on Obama's agenda." Obama highlighted Gaza in his Cairo speech a year ago, saying, "Just as it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza does not serve Israel's security." In that speech, Obama appeared to appeal to Palestinians to undertake acts of civil disobedience rather than violence, saying that it was "not violence that won full and equal rights" for African Americans but "a peaceful and determined insistence." Whether the flotilla was an act of civil disobedience remains up for debate. Its organizers said it was, but Israeli officials said members of the Israel Defense Forces were met with violence when they boarded the ships. Not only has the incident strengthened the Islamist Hamas, it has probably weakened the secular Palestinian leadership on the West Bank. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas quickly condemned the attack as a "massacre," but he will probably face new pressure to abandon indirect talks with Israel. Iran, whose nuclear ambitions deeply concern Israeli leaders, also is a beneficiary. Turkey holds one of the rotating seats on the U.N. Security Council and was already deeply skeptical of the U.S.-led push to impose new sanctions on the Islamic republic. But now the council's attention will be diverted by the Israeli assault.
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  • UN condemns Israel’s deadly raid on blockade-busting aid convoy as British relatives face anxious wait for news

    UN condemns Israel’s deadly raid on blockade-busting aid convoy as British relatives face anxious wait for news

  • United Nations calls for impartial investigation
  • One Briton injured – 28 believed to be on flotilla
  • Israel: This was not a successful operation
  • Turkey accuses Israel of ‘state terrorism’

    • The United Nations Security Council today condemned Israel’s bloody commando raid on the Gaza flotilla and which left up to 19 dead and called for an impartial investigation into the incident.

    In a statement released after a marathon 12-hour session, the body attacked ‘those acts’ which resulted in the loss of life.

    But it stopped short of naming Israel outright, a move designed to placate the country’s closest ally the United States.

    The statement, which called for ‘a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation, is unlikely to assuage Turkey.

    Ankara had used some of the harshest language against the Jewish state for launching the raid against the flotilla, which included a Turkish ferry on which the pro-Palestinian activists were killed.

    Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, whose country drafted the initial presidential statement, called the Israeli raid ‘banditry and piracy’ on the high seas and ‘murder conducted by a state’.

    The United Nations Security Council today condemned Israel’s bloody commando raid on the Gaza flotilla and which left up to 19 dead and called for an impartial investigation into the incident.Outcry: Thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters gather outside Downing Street to protest against the the flotilla raid

    In a statement released after a marathon 12-hour session, the body attacked ‘those acts’ which resulted in the loss of life.

    But it stopped short of naming Israel outright, a move designed to placate the country’s closest ally the United States.

    The statement, which called for ‘a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation, is unlikely to assuage Turkey.

    Ankara had used some of the harshest language against the Jewish state for launching the raid against the flotilla, which included a Turkish ferry on which the pro-Palestinian activists were killed.

    Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, whose country drafted the initial presidential statement, called the Israeli raid ‘banditry and piracy’ on the high seas and ‘murder conducted by a state’.

    The United Nations Security Council today condemned Israel’s bloody commando raid on the Gaza flotilla and which left up to 19 dead and called for an impartial investigation into the incident.

    In a statement released after a marathon 12-hour session, the body attacked ‘those acts’ which resulted in the loss of life.

    But it stopped short of naming Israel outright, a move designed to placate the country’s closest ally the United States.

    The statement, which called for ‘a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation, is unlikely to assuage Turkey.

    Ankara had used some of the harshest language against the Jewish state for launching the raid against the flotilla, which included a Turkish ferry on which the pro-Palestinian activists were killed.

    Protest: Riot police officers blockade the road leading to the Israeli embassy in London

    Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, whose country drafted the initial presidential statement, called the Israeli raid ‘banditry and piracy’ on the high seas and ‘murder conducted by a state’.

    The incident happened in international waters and worldwide condemnation of Israel was swift.

    Former British ambassador to the UN Sir Jeremy Greenstock said there had been ‘immediate international rage’ following the ‘unnecessary loss of life’.

    He said that Israel had to make sure weapons were not getting into Gaza ‘so some kind of defence is necessary but this was clearly not very well handled’.

    Sir Jeremy added: ‘It’s past time by some years for serious international action to end the blockade and the virtual starvation of Gaza.

    ‘This is not going to work as a way of dealing with the Palestinian territories over the long term.

    ‘It’s not going to work, frankly, for a democratic and law-abiding nation such as Israel – it’s changing the character of Israel to be responsible for this kind of occupation for so long.

    ‘And to my mind, this situation is just not necessary as it stands at the moment.’

    The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Conflict Issues said the flotilla raid had caused ‘indescribable pain” to the families of those killed and “provoked anger around the world’.

    Taksim

    The three MPs co-chairing the group – Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes, Labour’s John McDonnell, and Conservative Gary Streeter – released a statement urging all sides to renounce violence.

    They said: ‘As long as this long-running dispute remains unresolved, we fear that many more lives will be lost on all sides, resulting in even more pain and further deepening the hatred and distrust between all those involved.

    ‘Conflict resolution has been successfully used to end conflict in other parts of the world – now it’s time for the Israel-Palestine conflict to be resolved, for good.’

    Turkey, from where most of the dead are said to come, accused Israel of ‘state terrorism’ and withdrew its ambassador to Tel Aviv.

    Tens of thousands marched through Istanbul and attempted to storm the Israeli consulate, chanting: ‘ Murderous Israel, you will drown in the blood you shed.’

    Deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc called Israel’s actions ‘piracy’ and cancelled three planned joint military exercises.

    Foreign Secretary William Hague ‘deplored the loss of life’ and asked for access to the British involved, while David Cameron branded the attack ‘unacceptable’.

    The deadly clash sparked a wave of furious condemnation of Israel – with 2,000 demonstrators outside the gates of Downing Street and thousands more outside the Israeli Embassy in West London.

    In Paris, hundreds clashed with police near the Israeli Embassy. Police responded by firing tear gas.

    The White House, which has close ties with both Israel and Turkey, expressed ‘deep regret at the loss of life in today’s incident, and concern for the wounded’.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu cancelled a trip to Washington planned for today to head home as the crisis erupted.

    He expressed his ‘full backing’ for the military action.Israeli soldier

    Earlier, the UN said it was ‘shocked’ by the violence. Following a 90-minute open meeting, the Security Council went into closed-door consultations. Diplomats said envoys were haggling over the text of a proposed statement by the council, a task that dragged on into the evening.

    Many council members criticized the Israeli action with varying degrees of vehemence, and said it was time for Israel’s three-year-old blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza to be lifted.

    ‘This is tantamount to banditry and piracy,’ Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the council. ‘It is murder conducted by a state.’

    The Jewish state argues that the blockade, which began in 2007, is necessary to prevent arms reaching the Hamas-controlled enclave.

    The high-profile aid mission – unofficially supported by Turkey – set off from Cyprus on Sunday, led by the Turkish passenger ferry the Mavi Marmara, with 500 people aboard and 10,000 tons of food, medicines and building materials.

    There were two other passenger ships – one Irish and one Swedish – and three cargo ships thought to be all Turkish. After warnings from Israel to turn back, they were intercepted before dawn yesterday by three warships about 40 miles from Gaza, still within international waters.

    Commandos launched their raid on the Marmara by helicopter, slipping down a rope to the top deck. Greta Berlin, a founder of the Free Gaza Movement and one of the organisers of the flotilla, claimed the marines fired indiscriminately at unarmed civilians.

    ‘We are all civilians,’ she said. ‘Every one of us is a civilian who is trying to break Israel’s blockade of one and a half million Palestinians.’

    Israel raid

    Audrey Bomse, another spokesman for the movement, told the BBC: ‘We were not going to pose any violent resistance.’

    However the Israeli Defence Force posted a video on the internet site YouTube of footage taken from the helicopter which it claimed showed its soldiers being attacked as they landed.

    Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the commandos had orders to use ‘minimum force’ to commandeer the vessels, and met only token resistance on the other five ships.Angry Islamic protesters try to pass a barricade during a demonstration in Istanbu

    But he said the forces were ‘ambushed’ on the Mavi Marmara by protesters using ‘extreme violence’ with weapons including two pistols, knives and iron bars.

    The commandeered ships were brought several hours later into the port of Ashdod, where passengers were given the option of being voluntarily deported or arrested and taken to Israeli prisons.

    There was a communications blackout, with the surviving protesters’ satellite phones being confiscated, making it impossible to hear their version of events.

    The Daily Mail

  • Germany’s Deutsche Bank divests from Israel firm linked to West Bank separation fence

    Germany’s Deutsche Bank divests from Israel firm linked to West Bank separation fence

    The West Bank separation fence that runs through Bethlehem. Photo by: Tess Scheflan

    In 2009, Norway pension fund also divested from Elbit, which manufactures a monitoring system installed on several parts of the separation fence.

    By Haaretz Service

    Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest bank, had sold its holdings in Israeli arms firm, Army Radio reported Sunday, citing pressure by pro-Palestinian groups as the reason for the move.

    Although Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann did not state the reason for the bank’s divestment of the Israeli firm, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and Pax Christi, two groups critical of Elbit’s involvement in the West Bank Separation fence, issued a joint statement Friday calling their divestiture campaign “a major success.”

    Last year, Norway’s finance minister, Kristin Halvorsen, announced at a press conference in Oslo earlier in the day that its divestment of Elbit had been spurred by the firm’s involvement in the construction of the separation fence.
    According to a political source in Jerusalem, the Foreign Ministry had planned to issue a harsh statement of condemnation immediately after the announcement, but following the meeting with Lian the ministry decided to tone it down.

    The explanations for the divestment provided by the Norwegian envoy at the meeting were apparently the reason for the ministry’s moderation of its response.

    At the press conference, Halvorsen said the decision was based on the recommendation of Norway’s Ministry of Finance council on ethics, whose role is to ensure that government investments abroad meet ethical guidelines.

    “We do not wish to fund companies that so directly contribute to violations of international humanitarian law,” said the minister. She said the shares were sold secretly ahead of the announcement.

    Elbit manufactures a monitoring system installed on several parts of the separation fence.

    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/2010-05-30/ty-article/germanys-deutsche-bank-divests-from-israel-firm-linked-to-west-bank-separation-fence/0000017f-db87-df62-a9ff-dfd738d40000, 30.05.10

  • Turkey calls Israel a ‘terrorist’ over Gaza ship deaths

    Turkey calls Israel a ‘terrorist’ over Gaza ship deaths

    Turkey has warned that its relationship with Israel has been severely damaged after at least nine people died when troops stormed ships trying to break the Gaza blockade.

    The Turkish government has long been Israel’s main regional ally but called the raid an act of state terrorism and has accused Israel of violating international law.

    Jonathan Head reports.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10199824, 31 May 2010