![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/flags.jpeg\" "\\"The")
<\/p>\nBy BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT<\/p>\n
Brussels diplomat urges Turkey and Israel to foster better relations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
BERLIN \u2013 The head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Deputy Ruprecht Polenz, reprimanded Turkey for its jingoistic policies toward Israel and Cyprus, according to a report in a Turkish daily on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Istanbul\u2019s H\u00fcrriyet Daily News quoted Polenz as saying on Monday that Turkey\u2019s statements against Israel recall the language of \u201cArab dictators.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis attitude [of Turkey] may appear to generate support in the Arab world.<\/p>\n
However, anti-Israel emotions have been used by Arab dictators for a long time and it\u2019s questionable if that\u2019s worked out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsrael and Turkey\u2019s worsening relations are of serious concern for us,\u201d and Germany is of the view that \u201ctwo of its friends were fighting,\u201d Polenz said, according to H\u00fcrriyet.<\/p>\n
According to a report in the Hamburger Abendblatt, Polenz, a deputy from the Christian Democratic Union, the party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, criticized deficits in Turkey\u2019s application of religious freedom. Polenz took Turkey to task for failing to allow Christians to practice their religion.<\/p>\n
Bundestag deputy Volker Kauder (CDU) said mosques are permitted to be built in Germany and Christians should be allowed to build churches in Turkey.<\/p>\n
H\u00fcrriyet cited remarks from a Brussels-based diplomat, Giles Portman, who serves as an adviser on Turkey at the European Union External Action Service.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to see Turkey and Israel improve their bilateral relations,\u201d Portman said. \u201cWe want Turkey to play a role in the Middle East peace process.<\/p>\n
Turkey has a capability for that if it has relations with Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
In another stinging remark on Turkey\u2019s aggressive foreign policy, Polenz asked, \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t Turkey practice its zero problem policy on Cyprus?\u201d according to the Turkish paper.<\/p>\n
Polenz appears to have alluded to Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu\u2019s declaration that Turkey has \u201czero problems with neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a view toward Turkey\u2019s application to join the European Union, Polenz suggested that Ankara reevaluate its Cyprus policy and permit Greek vessels from Cyprus to dock at Turkish ports.<\/p>\n
The remarks were unusually strong for Polenz, who favors Turkey\u2019s admission to the EU. His position contradicts that of Merkel and many of his party\u2019s deputies, who favor a loose association membership, but not full EU rights for Turkey.<\/p>\n
via German politician warns Turkey ov… JPost – Diplomacy & Politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT Brussels diplomat urges Turkey and Israel to foster better relations. BERLIN \u2013 The head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Deputy Ruprecht Polenz, reprimanded Turkey for its jingoistic policies toward Israel and Cyprus, according to a report in a Turkish daily on Tuesday. Istanbul\u2019s H\u00fcrriyet Daily News […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":44316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,21,12],"tags":[7021],"class_list":["post-44314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","category-eu-members","category-germany","tag-eu-presidency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44314","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=44314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}