Last week, we wrote about “the real strategic challenge that Turkey and Iran pose to Israel” (see, here). We argued that
“The Israeli argument against Iran’s nuclear development—like its argument against Turkey’s pique over having Turkish vessels attacked on the high seas, its argument that settlements in occupied territory are completely legal, and its argument that blockading a civilian population in Gaza is also completely legal—is not based on rational analysis of actual physical threats. All of these arguments are directed towards the preservation of Israel’s regional hegemony, embodied in its unchallenged freedom of military action in the Middle East.
From this perspective, Iran and Turkey pose very similar ‘threats’ to Israel. Iran’s re-emergence as a powerful regional player (with its principal regional foes, Iraq and Afghansitan, neutered by U.S. invasions) with the potential for a nuclear weapons “option” could effectively check Israel’s ability to use force unilaterally whenever and wherever it chooses. And, Turkey’s challenge to the siege of Gaza by Israel (and, let’s, be fair, Egypt, too) could, if successful, have a similar effect.”
To amplify this argument, we would like to highlight two recent Op Eds by prominent Turkish officials.
One Op Ed was published last week in the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times by Suat Kiniklioğlu, AKP parliamentarian and his party’s deputy chairman for external affairs, whom we have come to admire and respect since our first meeting at the Istanbul Forum last October.
Noting that
“I am the only Turkish politician who has visited Israel since Israel unleashed the Gaza War, and since the Davos incident between Israeli President Shimon Peres and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan highlighted the differences between our countries”,
Suat writes that
“[May 31] was a turning point for me and my nation’s 72 million citizens…it has irrevocably damaged Turkish-Israeli relations at the bilateral level.” But Suat also underscores that “there is a significant international dimension to the flotilla fiasco”:
“The killing of nine peace activists by Israel once again demonstrated the blatant disregard for international norms and law by this Israeli government. THE RESPONSE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY—AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE U.S. RESPONSE—TO ISRAEL’S DISPROPORTIONATE USE OF VIOLENCE CONSTITUES A TEST FOR U.S. CREDIBILITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST [emphasis added]. Along with many European nations, the U.N. and global public opinion, the U.S. has a moral responsibility to condemn Israel’s violence.
Turkey is closely monitoring the U.S. response. As Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu noted, this is not a choice between Turkey and Israel. It is a choice between right and wrong, between legal and illegal. In many respects, the Middle East is approaching an important crossroad. THE UNITED STATES WILL DETERMINE WHAT SORT OF MIDDLE EAST IT WILL BE DEALING WITH IN THE FUTURE BY ITS RESPONSE TO ISRAEL’S ACTIONS [emphasis added]. This could not be more urgent given the tension surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, the precarious situation in Iraq and the ongoing war in Afghanistan.”
The other Op Ed was published today in The Guardian by Ibrahim Kalin, who succeeded Ahmet Davutoğlu as Prime Minister Erdoğan’s chief adviser when Davutoğlu became Turkey’s Foreign Minister. Ibrahim—whom we also first met at the Istanbul Forum last October and also greatly admire and respect—writes that the Israeli attack on Turkish vessels on May 31 “marks a turning point in Middle East politics and international relations”. He recounts the origins and consequences of Israel’s “suffocating siege” of Gaza:
“Let’s remember that Ehud Olmert, the prime minister of Israel at the [end of 2008], had given order for the destruction of Gaza only four days after he met the Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in Ankara tifinalise the Syrian-Israeli talks. Having lied to Turks, Syrians, Europeans and Americans, all of whom were involved in the talks, the Olmert government started a war which resulted in the klling of more than 1,400 civilians with thousands injured. In the three-week war, Gaza was completely destroyed and no civilian buildings, hospitals, houses of worship or even a UN building were spared. Since then, Gaza and its 1.5 million people have been living under Israeli blockade.
Israel has turned a deaf ear to calls by the Obama administration and the European Union to lift the blockage of Gaza, stop settlement activities in the Palestinian territories and restart the peace process. By defying the international community and violating international law, ISRAEL HAS CORNERED ITSELF BOTH MORALLY AND POLITICALLY [emphasis added]. The international reaction to the murdering of unarmed civilians in the aid flotilla shows the extent to which the world is becoming ever more impatient with the arrogant and irresponsible policies of successive Israeli governments.”
While noting that “I personally do not know if Turkish-Israeli relations will ever go back to normal after what happened in Mavi Marmara”, Ibrahim reiterates Turkey’s requirements of Israel in order to move forward (these requirements are the same as those enunciated by Foreign Minister Davutoğlu when he addressed the United Nations Security Council on May 31):
“Israel must formally apologise to the Turkish people for its brutal killing of Turkish aid workers. An international fact-finding mission, as called for by the UN, must be immediately established to investigate the events and those responsible for the raid must be brought to justice. Finally, the blockade of Gaza must be lifted to normalize the lives of 1.5 million Palestinians. Furthermore EGYPT MUST KEEP THE RAFAH GATE OPEN TO LET INTERNATIONAL AID INTO GAZA [emphasis added].”
As Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pointed out to us in February, U.S. mistakes in the region have created vacuums in the regional balance of power that others are moving to fill. One could also add that, while the ongoing diminution of Egypt’s traditional leading role in Arab and regional affairs is partly due to structural changes in the region, Cairo has exacerbated its strategic marginalization by its collaboration in the siege of Gaza. And President Assad is right that others are moving to fill the vacuums created by the miscalculations, mistakes, and misdeeds of the United States and some of its traditional allies in the Middle East. The Islamic Republic is clearly out to reset the Middle East’s balance of power, by pushing back against what it sees as U.S. and Israeli assertions of regional hegemony. Now, Turkey is lending its considerable standing and weight to the project of recasting the Middle East’s strategic and political order.
–Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett
kooshy, here are some of the Israeli acts the Palestinian could follow:
“Our task is to recruit a barrier and once again put the fear of death into the Arabs of the area,” – Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli defense Minister (later prime minister of the Zionist entity).
“Israeli interogators routinely ill-treat and torture Arab prisoners. Prisoners are hooded or blind-folded and hung by their wrists for long periods. Most are struck in the gentals or in other way sexually abused. Most are sexually assualted. Others are administered electric shocks,” – Ralph Schoeman, Sunday Times, June 19, 1977.
“There is no country in the world in which use of official and sustained torture is an established and documented as is in the case of Israel,” – Amnesty International.
Shyam Chand, a former minister of Haryana state (India) and author of “Saffron Fascism” – in his article Terrorism Inc.: Nexus between CIA and Mossad, published in Mainstream Weekly, November 16, 2008 – stated ………
http://rehmat1.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/terrorism-theirs-and-ours/
Eric
“Half-Life,
What would you recommend the Palestinians do?”
Well, for one thing a good Palestinian will and should make it easy for a new and young nation
Half-Life,
What would you recommend the Palestinians do?
Liz Cheney is currently the Neo-cons best spokesperson on American television. There are a lot of people evaluating her performance.
More utter stupidity about Turkey, this time from Liz Cheney, who said on ABC’s This Week that Turkey is now joining with Syria in a desire to destroy Israel (or something to this effect) – - exact words available online from washingtonpost site.
Is she merely a chronic liar and political opportunist? Or is there more to this?
Half-Life,
When you argue that the Palestinians “are bent on destroying Israel”, do you mean their insistence on an end of the occupation is a covert scheme to destroy Israel?
More rubbish about Turkey in the Wall Street Journal today. Eliot A. Cohen, who was counselor to the state dept. under Condoleeza Rice, has a piece: “With Friend Like the United States. . .” Samples: “Turkey’s . . . Neo-Ottomanist ideology that envisions Turkey as a great power in the Middle East. . .” Envisions? What country in the Middle East would rank higher as a “power” than Turkey?
also:
“Turkey [is] a state that is often plainly hostile not only to Israel but to American aims and interests.” Hostile to what “aims and interests” of the US? The idiotic effort to isolate Iran?
Posted by Chris:
” Israel wants the world to believe that Palestinians are violent people and are bent on destroying Israel.”
The world already believes that.
Because it’s true, and as obvious as the sun.
Israel behaving in a rotten way itself doesn’t turn the Palestinians into angels.
Castellio,
It may very well be the case, that acceptance of Israel as a “Jewish” state – - and all that this implies in terms of discrimination against Christian, Muslims, and others – - is the price the Islamic countries are prepared to pay in order to resolve the Israel/Palestine problem and create a viable Palestinian state. It all hinges on an end to the occupation of the West Bank and the Golan Heights.
James writes: Don’t you think an Israel within its ‘pre-1967″ borders should be considered legitimate, as a “Jewish” state?
It may be the right place to start, but I fear that the two levels of citizenship current in Israel will lead to on-going tensions which will undercut any genuine movement to peace and reconciliation. The Jew born in Idaho or Brooklyn will still have more rights than the Muslim born in Haifa or Jerusalem. It’s about the ability to build, to own land, to access education, to form part of the governing coalitions.
There was always an assumption in the west that liberal Zionists would somehow, over time, transform Israeli society away from an irremediable racism. That hasn’t happened. Can it still?
Josef Joffe of the Hoover Institution at Stanford U. has a remarkable piece in today’s Financial Times: “Yurkey is making a play for regional power”. Remarkable rubbish, in my view. Joffe accuses the Turks of “lead[ing] a crusade” against Israel!
So, trying to achieve peace between Syria and Israel is to “crusade” against Israel! Lunacy of the first degree.
Liz,
The disappointment so many Iranians have, regarding Obama, is a sad but understandable result of Obama’s failure to follow through with the initiative he proclaimed during the campaign and early in his administration. That he would surround himself with Aipac and other Iranophobic advisers, is an act of great foolishness on Obama’s part. The heart of the matter, of course, is that funding for Democratic politicians in national elections comes from Jewish financiers to a very large degree (including “Hollywood” types).
Rehmat,
Interesting comments about Turkic history. One might add that there were a number of Turkic and Mongol invasions of what is now Anatolia, over the centuries. The Mongols tended to leave, but the Turks settled extensively beginning in the 10th or 11th centuries (Seljuk Turks), and later the Ottomans took over completely. The Eastern Roman Empire was about evenly divided between Zoroastrians and Christians in about the early 5th C, but of course the Christians took full control later.
Many “Turks” in Turkey today are in fact of Slavic or Greek descent. Not to mention Georgians, Armenians, and other groups that to some extent were assimilated.
The Latin Christians destroyed the Byzantine Empire, during the Fouth Crusade (early 13th century), but it came back to life on a greatly reduced scale later on in that century.
Castellio,
Don’t you think an Israel within its ‘pre-1967″ borders should be considered legitimate, as a “Jewish” state? This would not be to advocate for further discrimination against Christian and Muslim Palestians. The essence of the Saudi peace plan is acceptance of Israel, within the pre-1967 borders.
Mladen…
Sorry to burst your history knowledge. Turkey itself is home to only 15% of world’s Turkic population. The present-day Turkey was a part of Christian empires which was destroyed first by Muslim Arabs and later by the Turks. Ottomon Empire controlled more European lands than it had Arab lands.
Turkey is 99.7% Muslim-majority of Sufi Muslims, both Sunni and Shias – though Sunni Sufis are in majority. Shiaism was introduced to Sunni Persia by the Safvid dynasty, whose founders were Shia Sufis from Turkey. However, most of Shia theologians in Persia were Arab Shias.
John Kaminski (an anti-Semite, anti-Israel American writer) wrote an articleon Islamic Republic which is worth reading.
The beautiful Iranian
http://www.rebelnews.org/component/content/article/56719
Turkey and Iran have been jostling for dominance over Middle East for over 500 years. Sunni Turkey had upper hand, so most of the Muslim world is Sunni today. Shiite Iran was seen with some suspicion for most of the time. At end of WWI Turkey was extremely unpopular in Arab world while it also tried to Westernize – with mixed results. West haven’t accepted Turkey wholeheartedly, so now they are back on Middle East, slamming door open in process.
So, after Iran made first bold step in asserting own independence from West, now Turkey is joining in. That does not put so much pressure on Iran, but more on traditional Arab powerhouses: Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Message in the air is: “And what are you waiting for?”
If Israel does not push with fair two-state solution and continue settlement expansion, world will force one state solution in the end. But, it will take few decades. Israeli politicians seldom think beyond next election, so they will continue to procrastinate and keep going into dead-end street.
However, US influence is rapidly reduced in Middle East and in few years it will be able to rely only on threat of brute force, which is clumsy and expensive tool. In essence, it seems USA is most pressed of all actors to find solution for Israeli-Arab conflict. But, with Palestinians literary pressed to the wall and without being able to press Israel, USA has very limited options.
So far, idea is to pour in more and more money, but if anything, all main recipients seems to become less and less democratic. Only good thing is, reducing of US influence makes Middle East more independent from foreign influences.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/03/iran-gaza-flotilla-turkey
Liz, the ONLY constants in life are change and death. I think the wiord you are looking for is “improvement”. Improvement is change, but not all change is improvement.
The only chanch the citizens of Iran had was in the winter of ‘03. If Bush had decided to send the 4th ID to Tehran, there wasn’t anything the Mad Dog Mullahs (hereafter MDM)could have done to stop it. A week to ten days and the Mullahs fall and the citizens take over. The people in America that stopped that from happening are the same ones that elected Obama. So your only chance was gone. So long as the MDM can find bully boys to pull the trigger on an automatic weapon, the citizens of Iran are screwed.
It might be possible to do an Afghanistan on the MDM and their bully boys. Target the barracks where they sleep. Shooting protesters is hard work and the murders need to rest after their labors. JDAM their barracks while they sleep and their murderous ways will end. Target the MDM’s also. Kill them or force them into their bunkers. As Hitler found out, you cannot run a nation from a bunker. They give orders and get told their orders have been obeyed.
What a propaganda site!
First maritime blockades are 100% LEGAL under several international treaties.
http://jcsl.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/8/2/363
Almost every nation on this planet that isn’t landlocked has Maritime Exclusion Zones. Just recently North Korea placed one for it’s missile tests. Cuba, Cyprus, Persian Gulf and the coast off Somalia, just to name a few. So the Israeli MEZ is perfectly legal.
Where were you people when the French sank that Greenpeace ship a few years ago?
This is all propaganda, driven by Hamas being angry because they are not killing very many Jews.
As far as Turkey, if they don’t get off their high horse, Israel will start arming the PKK. After all , if Turkey helps Hamas get rockets to kill Jews with, why shouldn’t Israel help the PKK kill Turks? What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
Then there is Cyprus. If Israel wants to prevent Turkey from interfering with the Greeks retaking Cyprus, they can.
No, the most likely outcome of this bit of foolishness by the Turkish Mullahs is a coup. The Turkish military has held off because they want in the EU. The Turkish military is running a lot of obsolete gear. They understand that getting in the EU would help the economy and there would be more money to upgrade their obsolete equipment. With the Euro sinking like the Titanic and the EU looking to fall apart, The Generals might just reconsider their options.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/blockade.htm
http://www.crimesofwar.org/thebook/blockade-act-war.html
{snipped}
“There is also, as a result of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, an obligation not to deprive the civilian population of the basic means of survival. The effect of this rule is far less clear-cut in naval operations, although a blockade that had as its sole purpose depriving the enemy population of food and other humanitarian supplies would be unlawful today. ”
Since the purpose of the blockade is to prevent munitions and weapons from entering Gaza, the blockade is perfectly legal. Those attempting to break the blockade are criminals and subject to arrest and incarceration. Those supporting attempts to break the blockade by words or deeds are also criminals.
Why don’t you silly fools just accept that Israel is here to stay and you are not going to be allowed to commit genocide on the Jews?
Iranians in Iran are beginning to really hate Obama, the same person who many (not all) were hoping would bring about change. If there are new sanctions, dislike for Obama will probably surpass that of Bush (which is saying a lot) and Iranians will be expecting the government and the state to push back much harder against U.S. and Israeli assertions of regional hegemony. The world seems to be heading for hard times.
Israel wants the world to believe that Palestinians are violent people and are bent on destroying Israel.
Yet, the facts show that Israel is much ahead of the so called terrorists in terms of killing innocent people and destroying property. Indeed, it is Palestine that has been wiped from the map, thanks to Israel.
Israel loses the moral argument both on substantive and qualitative terms
For how long are the Israeli leaders going to be out of touch with the reality? And, for how long will the United States enable this? Like a spoilt child, it is just a matter of time that Israel turns its venom on the United States…in a more dramatic way.
In the face of Washington’s complicity with Israeli war crimes, the only road is to intensify the world-wide boycott, disinvestment and sanctions campaign against all Israeli products, cultural activities and professional exchanges.
Hopefully, the Islamic led mass protests will find echo in the wider anti-Zionist Christian and Jewish communities – especially, when Israeli apologists for state terror make public appearances.
Even more important each and every Israeli involved in the mass assault should be subject to criminal prosecution wherever they visit.
http://petras.lahaine.org/articulo.php?p=1810&more=1&c=1
Only by making the Israelis understand that they will pay a high price for their serial homicides and violations of international law will reason possibly enter their political narrative.
Only by moving beyond symbolic protests, like recalling diplomats, and taking substantive actions, like breaking relations, will the international community isolate the perpetrator of state terrorism.
All Americans should send loud and clear to President Obama –NEVER AGAIN.
Otherwise, with the Zionist Power Configuration active 7/24, the Obama regime, true to the Zionist agenda, will once again focus attention on attacking Iran.
Israel’s action today with US complicity is a prelude of the kind of deadly force it has in store for sabotaging the recent Turkey-Brazil-Iran diplomatic agreement.
The Obama Response to Israeli State Terror
There is only one basic reason why Israel repeatedly commits crimes against humanity, including the latest assault on the humanitarian flotilla: because it knows that the Zionist Power Configuration, embedded in the US power structure, will ensure government support, in this case the Obama White House.
In the face of the world-wide condemnation of Israel’s crime on the high seas, and calls from the international community for legal action, the Obama regime absolutely refused to criticize Israel.
A White House spokesman said “The United States deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained and is currently working to understand the circumstances surrounding the tragedy” (AFP May 31, 2010).
An act of state terrorism does not evoke “regrets” – it normally provokes condemnation and punishment.
The power which caused “loss of life and injuries” has a name – Israel;
the persons who suffered death and injuries during the Israeli assault – have a name – humanitarian volunteers.
It was not simply a “loss of life” but a well planned premeditated murder which is openly defended by Prime Minister Netanyahu and his entire Cabinet.
The “circumstances” of the murders are clear: Israel assaulted an unarmed ship in international waters, opening fire as they boarded the ship.
The Obama regime’s obscene political cover-up of a deliberate criminal act in violation of international law is evident in his description of a serial homicide as a ‘tragedy’.
Premeditated state terror has no resemblance to a tragic noble ruler forced by circumstances into a criminal act against their closest allies.
http://petras.lahaine.org/articulo.php?p=1810&more=1&c=1
Israeli-born British writer, musician and Israel-Lebanon war veteran, Gilad Atzmon, in his interview with Russian Television (RT) said that Israeli vengeance against Turkish vessel was based on Zionist screwed-up interpretation of the Jewish Bible.
http://rehmat1.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/jewish-vengeance-israel-vs-turkey/
Strip Israel of its UN Membership.
Sign: http://www.petitiononline.com/is050110/petition.html
Dear UN General Assembly Members:
We, the undersigned citizens of the world, call on the United Nations General Assembly to rescind Israel’s membership in the UN, as a step toward ending Zionist apartheid.
Israel’s attack on a humanitarian aid fleet on Monday May 31, 2010, its murder of 9 human rights activists in international waters and wounding 50 others demonstrate that Israel rejects the structural tenets of our shared humanity, manifested in a global moral consensus and international law.
Countless UN resolutions call on Israel to respect international law. It abides by none of them. It should therefore lose its place among the global family of nations.
Israel has been violating international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention in its building of settlements, displacement of the indigenous population of Palestine, invasion of surrounding countries, killing and ethnically cleansing civilians systematically through the use of massacres.
Israel has never been held accountable for the massacres of Deir Yassin, Qibya, Sabra and Shatilla, Qana, Gaza, and Jenin, for murdering Rachel Corrie, nor, as of today, for its massacre on the flotilla of international peace activists hoping to break Israel’s siege on the Palestinian people.
As of 2007, Gaza has been turned into an open air prison housing 1.5 million people. Since 1948, Palestinians who carry Israeli citizenship do not enjoy equal protection or rights under Israeli law for not being classified as “Jewish Nationals.” Palestinian survivors of ethnic cleansing are denied the right to return.
We, the citizens of the world, call upon you to shape the 21st century with a new ethic, already enshrined in the United Nations. We call upon you to end Zionist apartheid and racial injustice by stripping Israel of its UN membership.
by Gilad Atzmon
But even if Israel accepts fixed borders (unlikely but possible), it has made it clear it won’t accept a loss of its ‘Jewish’ status. It will remain a racist state. How, then, can it maintain legitimacy? And how can the US continue to have as its first priority the support of an illegitimate state?
The only answer from the Likud side is to destroy that way of thinking which makes a racist state illegitimate. Which is what the pro-Israeli “warfare” movement is all about, and which finds strong echoes among Christian Zionists
I agree completely with Fiorangela that Israel needs to get along with its neighbors. Now. Not starting in five or ten years. The addiction to violence and mass-murder is undermining Israel’s legitimacy.
Ibrahim Kalin is quite right to underscore the sheer viciousness of Ehud Olmert’s approval of the Israeli rampage in Gaza, just days after the tentative deal between Syria and Israel was being refined. My understanding is that the rampage arose from domestic political concerns, and it had nothing to do with the security of Israel per se.
Iran`s growing regional influence and Turkey`s key strategic position within the international arena provides a potential deterrent against Israel`s unilateral actions in the region.Also those Arab regimes that have been either unwilling to challenge Israel`s unilateral actions or are partners of the Zionist government via the U.S , are under threat as well if they don`t change their positions. We already noticed the Mubarak regime trying to distance itself from the Flotilla attack by opening the Rafah crossing , but we all know that Egypt was and still part of the illegal Gaza blockade.
ps. I appreciated the article, and thought the map displayed starkly how an alignment of Iran and Turkey can dominate the region.
Israel would be doing itself such a tremendous favor if it knocked that chip off its shoulder, closed down its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hasbara section, and learned to get along with its neighbors. There is nothing that terrifies a zionist so much as being just like everyone else, but that is Israel’s only salvation.
Ahmed, I posted a comment in an earlier conversation, “Strategic Challenge Turkey & Iran Pose.” The comment included a link to an article by Dr. Alan Sabrosky that considers the possibility of NATO involvement in the flotilla.
Question is, which side would NATO join, or would NATO fight NATO?
farcical in that formulation, isn’t it: NATO vs NATO.
why is it not equally farcical when the true combatants are made clear: HUMAN vs HUMAN.
I was expecting a better map,no UAE and Gaza…
What do you make of Erdoğan joining the next flotilla? I think its a PR move but doing it will make him a hero and will lead to his name being set in the books of history.
I am not suggesting that Erdoğan will do such a thing for his name as it is too early in a political career for this.
If Erdoğan does join the next flotilla and is escorted by Turkish Navy ships, Israel will face a real dilemma. Doing anything about the vessels i.e confronting them or attacking them will lead to a massive PR failure, international condemnation and possible military confrontation with Turkey which will bring in NATO to the equation.
Would NATO do anything against Israel? I personally don’t think so. The prospect of US & other NATO nations declaring war on Israel is absurd. To me the most likely situation will be Israel getting away with everything, just like they always do