Erdogan: Don't Expect 'Normal' Ties, Despite Apology
Before Turkey normalizes ties with Israel, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, it expects Israel to 'fulfill its promises'
By David Lev -- Arutz Sheva 7
First Publish: 3/24/2013, 5:42 PM
Terrorists on the Mavi Marmara
Flash 90
In a phone call Friday, minutes after U.S.
President Barack H. Obama left the country, Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu phoned Erdogan to express Israel's regret at the death of
Turks in the Mavi Marmara incident of 2010. The Turks, members of terror
groups allied with Hamas and Hizbullah, attempted to kill lightly armed
IDF soldiers who boarded the ships of the Gaza flotilla. Forced to
fight for their lives, the soldiers killed 9 of the Turkish terror
supporters.
It was for that incident Netanyahu
“expressed Israel's regret,” although Erdogan said Sunday that Netanyahu
had apologized for the Turkish loss of life. Nevertheless, Erdogan
wrote, Turkey wanted more than words from Israel. Among those actions,
he wrote, was a payment of compensation to the families of those killed.
“The money will not bring them
back, but will prove to Israel that Turkey does not forget and will not
abandon the rights of its 'shaheedeem' (the Arabic word for Muslim
martyrs).”
In addition, he said, Israel must remove
the naval and land blockades of Gaza if it wanted normal ties with
Turkey. “I stress that we expect Israel to fulfill its promises
regarding the blockades,” he wrote, adding that he planned to visit Gaza
in a month or so.
Labels: Controversy, Crisis Politics, Gaza, Hamas, Heritage, Hypocrisy, Islamism, Israel, Security Defence, Turkey
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, March 24, 2013
<< Home