Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan: No Quick Restoration of Ties With Israel

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press
ANKARA, Turkey March 24, 2013 (AP)

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested "normalization" of ties with Israel would take time, hinting that Turkey wanted to ensure the victims of a flotilla raid were compensated and Israel remained committed to the easing of restrictions of goods to Gaza before relations are restored between the two nations.

Erdogan's comments on Sunday came days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Turkish leader to apologize for the botched raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010 that killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American. Erdogan accepted the apology and both leaders said they would begin the work of restoring full relations.

But in a public address Sunday, Erdogan suggested there would be no quick restoration of ties.

"We have said: 'an apology will be made, compensation will be paid and the blockade on Palestine will be lifted. There will be no normalization without these," he said. "Normalization will happen the moment there is an implementation. But if there is no implementation, then I am sorry."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkeys-erdogan-hints-normalization-of-ties-with-israel-will-take-time/2013/03/24/668dd586-948c-11e2-95ca-dd43e7ffee9c_story.html

[dipsydoodle]

1. Israel remained committed to the easing of restrictions of goods to Gaza ?

That's already been squashed.

(Reuters) - Israel says fence-mending with Turks does not end Gaza blockade.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/24/uk-israel-turkey-idUKBRE92N03W20130324

[David__77]

2. So this effort by Israel is meaningless?

What was the point?

[Purveyor]

3. Something happened between the time of the announced 'apology' and now. Not sure but the

real reason will surface soon enough I suppose.

[David__77]

4. This must be a bit humiliating for Israel.

And it seems that Obama's point was to get everyone on the same West-friendly anti-Syrian "regime change" page. What's problematic here is that the most vital components of the Syrian insurgents oppose Assad partly because they see him as somehow soft on Syria, and want to reclaim the Golan Heights, and indeed smash Israel entirely.

[Purveyor]

5. Do you think any of this would be happening had we not 'smacked the hornets nest' by invading Iraq?

[David__77]

8. It goes back even further, to Afghanistan in 1979.

When Brzezinski successfully implemented the "clash of civilizations" theory with respect to Afghanistan. Barbarism became the US' friend at that time: killing teachers, destroying economic infrastructure, etc. Sadly, it has been the same ever since.

[karynnj]

7. There appear to be differences in what there agreement meant.

[Mosby]

6. Erdogan backtracks on understandings with Netanyahu

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared to backtrack Saturday on understandings reached with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a dramatic US-brokered phone call Friday on healing ties between Ankara and Jerusalem.

Erdogan said Saturday it was too early to cancel legal steps against Israeli soldiers who took part in the raid on the Mavi Mamara.

snip

Hamas’s Gaza prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, calling Netanyahu’s apology “a diplomatic victory for Ankara,” confirmed Erdogan would visit “in the near future,” and said this trip would mark “a significant step to ending the political and economic blockade” of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Erdogan told reporters that it wasn’t yet time to talk about dropping the case in which four IDF generals stand accused of war crimes over the incident. The indictment, prepared last summer, sought ten aggravated life sentences for each officer ostensibly involved in the 2010 raid — including former chief of the IDF General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and former head of military intelligence Amos Yadlin.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/erdogan-too-early-to-cancel-legal-steps-against-soldiers/

[JDPriestly]

10. Erdogan is making a huge mistake. He will not be trusted in the West

due to this.

[JDPriestly]

9. Why don't Israel and Turkey cooperate on getting basic relief supplies

to the Palestinians. The Palestinians would probably reject anything that Israel sent on its own, and Turkey probably can't get through the Israeli lines on its own.

On the other hand, if Israel has a say in the delivery of the supplies, it won't have to worry so much about weapons or other things it would not like to see on its borders being given to the Palestinians.

Sounds like a plan to me -- a first step at least.

Turkey's reluctance is inexplicable. Turkey is not one of Israel's neighbors, and it used to have good relations with Israel.

This would be a chance for it to put Israel on the spot. Seems like it is win/win for all.