Turkish President: Israel is ungrateful, even burden to its allies

Israel is “ungrateful” and a burden to its allies, Turkish President Abdullah Gül said Thursday, calling on Tel Aviv to consider an “honorable peace” with its Arab neighbors.

“Look at the scene when [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu speaks in the U.S. Congress. It is impossible for him to receive that reaction in his own parliament,” Gül said, speaking while on his way to Yaroslavl, Russia, to attend an international conference on “The Modern State and Multiculturalism.”

In his comments, Gül also highlighted the favors he said were done by Turkey on Israel’s behalf.

“They [display] a certain ingratitude as if we have to do this, however. I mean, there is no reciprocity. [This is] a country that burdens even its allies. Let them do [all] the thinking from now on,” he said.

“They [Israel] came to us [about] an apology four times over, [and] this friend of ours [Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu] received our approval, but they backed down at the last moment,” Gül said, referring to Ankara’s demand that Israel apologize for its deadly raid last year on a Gaza-bound aid ship, an incident that killed nine Turks.

“Israel is like a small island in a region inhabited by several hundred million Arabs. When the Arabs were governed by undemocratic regimes, it was possible from Israel’s perspective to come to terms with those leaders,” the Turkish president said. “Take a look at when military cooperation [between Israel and Turkey] began to develop. Democracy is on the ascent, however, and no democratic country can follow a dishonorable policy by disregarding its own citizens’ wants and sensitivities. For that reason, Israel must think about an honorable peace.”

Speaking about the ongoing uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, Gül also recounted an initiative he undertook regarding the turmoil in Bahrain while taking King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa on a tour of Istanbul. The Turkish president said he spoke to al-Khalifa about the fate of 12 doctors who treated people injured in clashes in Bahrain and were involved in anti-government protests initiated by the country’s Shiite majority.

“I told the King of Bahrain that the initiative for dialogue would be strengthened if [he were to] release them [the doctors]. He made a promise to me, and we learned yesterday the doctors were freed. Of course, the Shiites who have their hopes vested in us are very satisfied,” he said.

Gül also called for Turkey to act with self-confidence and raise democratic standards in responding to the recent flare-up of the conflict with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. “[The PKK] have no interest either in the Kurdish issue or in the rights and the justice of citizens in eastern Anatolia,” he said.

In his comments, Gül also expressed his views about online social media, of which he is an avid user. “In the old days, there were coffeehouses and gardens. People would sit down, talk and exchange ideas. Today, however, people do not even have the time to greet their neighbors,” he said. “That is why they use social media because the Turkish people are not as cold as people of some countries; they are warm-blooded and talkative.”

“I love children’s messages best because it is clear they write them themselves without the assistance of their elders. There are even those who call me ‘Uncle Abdullah,’” the president added. He also explained he had feared he would get negative reactions about a photograph he posted on the website Twitter of him with a Cadillac convertible. “The great majority liked it, however. A citizen took our photograph with his cell phone just as I was making a U-turn while driving the car,” he said. “Truthfully, I kept wondering for days as I glanced at the newspapers which one would publish [the photograph].”


/World Bulletin/