{"id":43631,"date":"2011-09-07T09:55:32","date_gmt":"2011-09-07T06:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishforum.com.tr\/en\/content\/?p=43631"},"modified":"2023-04-04T07:00:08","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T04:00:08","slug":"erdogan-freezes-defense-trade-with-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2011\/09\/07\/erdogan-freezes-defense-trade-with-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Erdogan freezes defense trade with Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_article_control_art_header\">By HERB KEINON<br \/>\n09\/07\/2011 02:39<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"teaser_val\">Turkey to step up navy patrols; Jerusalem remains quiet, \u2018hopeful\u2019 a formula can still be worked out to end crisis.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_43632\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-43632\" style=\"width: 311px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-43632\" title=\"erd\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/erd.jpeg\" alt=\"Photo by: Umit Bektas\/Reuters\" width=\"311\" height=\"188\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/erd.jpeg 311w, https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/erd-300x181.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 311px) 100vw, 311px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-43632\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by: Umit Bektas\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The  steep slide in Israeli-Turkish ties continued unabated Tuesday with  Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announcing that Ankara was  freezing defense trade with Israel and would step up navy patrols in the  eastern Mediterranean.<\/p>\n<p>Though Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced these steps on Friday when the Palmer Commission\u2019s report on the Mavi Marmara  incident was released, the fact that Erdogan repeated them, kept up for  the fifth consecutive day unprecedented tension between Jerusalem and  Ankara.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, officials in Jerusalem held out hope that a way could still be found to find a formula relating to the Marmara  incident that would end the crisis. While Israel has said it was  willing to pay compensation to the families of the nine people killed in  the incident, and has expressed regret for the loss of life, it added  that it will not apologize to the Turks, as they are demanding.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless,  one diplomatic official said Israel is trying to contain the issue, and  the government \u2013 which for the most part has not responded to heated  rhetoric coming from Ankara \u2013 is not interested in a \u201cwar of words\u201d with  Turkey. \u201cWe remain open to a formula that will put the relations back on track,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n<div><noscript><span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/ad.doubleclick.net\/N6943\/jump\/300x250_ROS\/300x250_DiplomacyAndPolitics;sz=300x250;ord=[timestamp]?\"><\/span><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p>The official said it was clear the original hope that the Palmer Report  would help put the relations back on track have been dashed, and the  publishing of the report has only exacerbated the situation.<\/p>\n<p>Defense Minister Ehud Barak, during a tour in the North, said \u201cIsrael  and Turkey are the two strongest and in many respects the most important  countries in the Mideast. We have our differences, but in differences,  too, it is important that both sides act using their heads and not their  gut \u2013 that will be best for us all and best for regional stability and  restoring things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Turkey has already expelled Israel\u2019s ambassador and all diplomats at the  embassy in Ankara above the second secretary level. On Monday, Israeli  passengers traveling through Istanbul were singled out for particularly  harsh security measures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe eastern Mediterranean is not a strange place to us. Aksaz and Iskenderun, these places have the power and opportunity to  provide escorts,\u201d Erdogan told reporters on Tuesday, referring to two  Turkish naval bases.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course our ships will be seen much more frequently in those waters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On condition of anonymity, a Turkish journalist told The Jerusalem Post  that an official source in Ankara said Turkish naval ships may accompany  a future IHH flotilla Gaza to prevent what the official described as an  Israeli \u201catrocity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Regarding economic relations between the countries, Erdogan said, \u201cTrade  ties, military ties, regarding defense industry ties, we are completely  suspending them. This process will be followed by different measures,\u201d  he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIsrael has always acted like a spoiled child in the face of all UN  decisions that concern it. It assumes that it can continue to act like a  spoiled child and will get away with it,\u201d Erdogan said, according to  the Turkish daily Today\u2019s Zaman.<\/p>\n<p>He said the raid on the Mavi Marmara,  which the Palmer Commission justified \u2013 though saying Israel used  unreasonable and excessive force \u2013 was \u201cinhumane\u201d and \u201can act of state  terrorism and savagery.\u201d He said the UN panel\u2019s report \u201cholds no value  for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the measures [we have] taken so far [against Israel] are part of a  Plan B, then there will also be a Plan C. Different steps will be taken  depending on the course of developments&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>We are totally suspending our commercial, military and defense ties.  They are being frozen entirely,\u201d Today\u2019s Zaman quoted him as saying,  without elaborating.<\/p>\n<p>The paper quoted officials in Erdogan\u2019s office later in the day,  however, as clarifying that commercial ties with Israel will not be  affected.<\/p>\n<p>They said Erdogan was only referring to defense trade between the two countries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThings are really bad,\u201d a Turkish journalist with contacts in  government told the Post. \u201cIt seems Ankara is determined to escalate the  relationship, and from their perspective, they see Israel determined to  escalate the relationship as well&#8230; because it\u2019s not apologizing, not  giving compensation [to victims\u2019 families] and not bringing an end to  the Gaza naval blockade.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2010 the two countries did $3.5 billion worth of trade.<\/p>\n<p>Erdogan also said he may visit Gaza during a planned visit to Egypt  later this month, but would decide after consulting the Egyptian  government.<\/p>\n<p>He will also attend the UN General Assembly in New York later this month  where he is expected to speak strongly in support of Palestinian  efforts to win UN statehood recognition. Israeli officials said this  would likely have occurred even without the current crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Kadima head Tzipi Livni, who was foreign minister during the  first major crisis with Turkey over Operation Cast Lead in 2009, said in  an interview with CNN Turk on Tuesday that \u201cthe time has come for our  countries to talk about the future, and not only the past. We also have  national honor and the time has come to talk about what can be done  because Turkey needs these relations, and not only Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Livni said it was also time for the tone to become less emotional.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery day there are additional statements from Turkey, and when it  becomes so emotional the leaders need to sit down together and discuss  the interests of the sides, because in the end the interests of both  Israel and Turkey are to get over the crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Livni blamed Hamas for the crisis, saying Israel sent its soldiers to defend its citizens against Hamas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTurkey wants peace in the region, but Hamas does not represent that and  works against that. If Turkey wants to be a part of the peace camp,  then that is not with Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Oren Kessler and Reuters contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By HERB KEINON 09\/07\/2011 02:39 Turkey to step up navy patrols; Jerusalem remains quiet, \u2018hopeful\u2019 a formula can still be worked out to end crisis. The steep slide in Israeli-Turkish ties continued unabated Tuesday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announcing that Ankara was freezing defense trade with Israel and would step up navy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":43632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[148],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}