 Israeli Ambassador Gabby Levy in Ankara on Friday. AA photo |
Turkey urged Israel Friday to end the "humanitarian tragedy" in Gaza, saying ties between the two allies cannot recover if Palestinians continue to suffer and peace talks remain dead in the Middle East.
"Ending the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, reviving peace efforts – on both, the Palestinian and Syrian track – and more importantly, reinstating a prevailing spirit of peace in the region... this is what we want," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told reporters.
"When there is a return to the peace track, these relations of trust [with Israel] will be re-established to the same level as before," he said.
Israel's ties with its chief regional ally took a sharp downturn last week when Ankara excluded the Jewish state from annual joint military exercises, prompting a rebuke from the United States.
The row flared Thursday as Israel summoned the Turkish envoy to protest a Turkish state television series, which it condemned as "inciting hatred against Israel" and "not worthy of being broadcast even in an enemy state."
Davutoğlu said that Israel's recent war on Gaza "killed the peace perspective" in the Middle East and caused ongoing turmoil in the devastated Palestinian enclave.
He made it clear, Ankara was still bitter that the war also disrupted indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria which Turkey had been mediating, "with so much effort."
"As long as the human tragedy in Gaza continues, no one should expect us to be part of a military picture" with Israel, he said, referring to the scrapped military drills.
"Although no single rocket has been fired on Israel from Gaza over the past eight months, children in Gaza have no schools to go to, people have no homes to take shelter in," he said.
Davutoğlu rejected suggestions that his government, the moderate offshoot of a now-banned Islamist party, was becoming anti-Israeli.
"The humanitarian situation [in Gaza] should be improved in the shortest possible time. How can hoping for this amount to being anti-Israeli? This is a humanitarian attitude," he said.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said the television series infuriating Israel had no political motive, but conceded the plot might be "a bit exaggerated," Anatolia news agency reported.
The first episode, aired Tuesday, showed Israeli forces shooting a little girl and a newborn baby, and portrayed them as insulting and ridiculing Palestinians.
Arınç defended the production, saying its ultimate message, when concluded, would be one of peace.
Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay disagreed, saying, "our artists and series must not fuel tensions... and create the impression that there are problems between our peoples as a whole."
Israeli Ambassador Gabby Levy met with a senior foreign ministry official to once again convey his country's "disappointment and concerns" over the programme, Anatolia news agency reported.
Israel's hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday the latest developments "raised the question: what direction is Turkish policy taking? We hope it is toward strengthening peace and not extremists."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been at the forefront of international criticism of the Gaza offensive.
In an unprecedented outburst, he stormed out of a debate at the World Economic Forum in January, accusing Israel of "barbarian" acts and telling Israeli President Shimon Peres, sitting next to him, that "you know well how to kill people."
The Palestinian struggle for statehood enjoys widespread support in Turkey, among both, Islamists and leftists.
In contrast to its souring ties with Israel, Erdoğan's government has markedly improved ties with Syria and sought closer relations with Iran, an arch-enemy of the Jewish state.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com / Portal Turkey
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