Cyprus-Forum.com

[RAFAELLA]

Turkish army furious over IDF officer's comments
By Zvi Bar'el

The Turkish military warned yesterday that relations between Jerusalem and Ankara are in a state that "could compromise the national interests of both Israel and Turkey." The rare statement on foreign policy follows the diplomatic row due to Israel's three-week offensive in Gaza.

Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi - the recently appointed head of Israel's ground forces - has questioned Turkish policies toward Kurds and Cyprus. Turkey yesterday called on Israel's ambassador to Ankara, Gabi Levy, to explain Mizrahi's remarks. Mizrahi, who previously served as a military attache to the United States, also accused Turkey of oppressing its Kurdish minority and massacring Armenians during World War I.

The Turkish Armed Forces keep around 30,000 troops in northern Cyprus after having invaded the island in 1974. Turkey is the only country to recognize a Turkish Cypriot administration there. Turkey has also fought a 25-year war against Kurdish separatists, and denies accusations that it committed genocide against 1.5 million Armenians during World War I.

Mizrahi has said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan should have "looked in the mirror" before slamming President Shimon Peres last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. During the forum, Erdogan became enraged over being cut off by a panel moderator after listening to Peres defend Operation Cast Lead. Peres' defense was prompted by harsh criticism of Israel by Erdogan, who said to Peres: "You are killing people."

An official in Turkey's Justice and Development Party told Haaretz that "the statements of an Israeli general against Turkey and its prime minister are an unacceptable insult, and we hope that Israel's government will publicly distance itself from these remarks."

Mizrahi's remarks made front-page news in Turkey and were given prominence in Turkish-language news sites, which described them as "unusual."

The Turkish prime minister opted for some unusual statements himself yesterday, when he was pessimistic about the results of the Israeli election.

"Unfortunately we have seen that the [Israeli] people have voted for these [rightist] parties, and that makes me a bit sad," Erdogan told Reuters and two Turkish newspapers in an interview. "Unfortunately the election has painted a very dark picture."

Anshel Pfeffer and Barak Ravid contributed to this article.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1064163.html


Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi


Turkey still awaiting explanations on general's speech
Published: 02.16.09, 22:58 / Israel News

Turkey is still waiting for "explanations" about a speech made by an IDF general regarding Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, chief diplomat Ali Babacan said.

"We expect the Israelis' detailed explanations about these declarations," an Antalya press agency quoted Babacan as saying. GOC Ground Forces Command Avi Mizrahi had said that Erdogan should look at his country's history before criticizing Israel's offensive in Gaza. (AFP)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 21,00.html

Well said!

[Sotos]

This is what I said too when I saw the story about Erdogan accusing Israel! Turkey is the last country in the universe that can give lessons to others! They should indeed look in the mirror first!

[RAFAELLA]

This is what I said too when I saw the story about Erdogan accusing Israel! Turkey is the last country in the universe that can give lessons to others! They should indeed look in the mirror first!

True Sotos.
....but when they look in the mirror, they blame the mirror for seeing an agly face!

[Oracle]

It's a 'dog eat dog' world .....

[miltiades]

It's a 'dog eat dog' world .....

You mean donkey eat cockerel!
IPEN O GAROS TOU PETINOU TCHEFALA

[shahmaran]

Please, show me 1 country anywhere near here that can actually look at the mirror and see an innocent past.

No one around here can tell Turkey to "look at the mirror" without sounding like an idiot.

Yet they still choose to do so, it is mind boggling indeed...

[RAFAELLA]

The difference is that Turkey is still committing crimes and she is acting like nothing happens.

[shahmaran]

That's just your point of view which is nothing surprising since you would blame global warming on the Turks if you could find the slightest evidence.

On this part of the island, however, we generaaly have welcomed the Turks or YOU would have NEVER stopped committing the crimes until you had reached your racist goals.

You talk as if you have never "looked at the mirror" yourself

[Yak]

I was really taken aback when the Turkish Pm called isreal killing people and said "all what you know how to do is killing". He forgot the cyprus issue, the kurds, armenias and many of his country's aggressive and nationalistic sentiments

[shahmaran]

To be honest that whole speech was nothing but a silly stunt he pulled because of the coming up elections.

Everyone knows that Israhell trains its pilots in Turkey, no one had any problems with it, and we have/had plenty of good ties regarding military, inteligence, PKK, the TRNC and many other issues.

If Tayyip was so deeply hurt by the horrible crimes the Israelis have been committing against the Palestinians, why did he support them all the way right up until his silly speech in Davos?

The guy is an absolute moron, not only he has totally blew away his position as a middle man but thanks to this monkey now Turkey looks like a Hamas symphatizer.

It has worked for him though, he was welcomed back as a "World Leader(!!)" and has become a hero in all the Muslim countries, plus he has boosted the trust of all the religious apes whose votes he absolutely depends on.

On the other hand Turkey's so called crimes are nothing comparable to what the Israelis are putting the Palestinians through as we speak. That is just ridiculous that this guy can even think of making such a foolish statement. The number of war crimes they have committed and the UN resolutions they have defied is uncountable. This is coming from the people that has been put through hell all through out history and has been living off the sympathy of it ever since, yet clearly they have no problem doing it to another nation when it suits their needs, amazing!

The so called Armenian Genocide is nothing but an exaggerated part of a very violent time in the Ottoman history (NOT Turkey) which is only really brought up when someone wants something from Turkey and use it as a political weapon, where was everyone all this time?

The Kurd issue is a Terrorist issue and the violence is mutual. Turkey has not used any more violence on the demonstrating Kurds than she has used on the demonstrators of 1st of May, the general public. If you have been watching the news lately you can clearly see how violent Kurdish demonstrations are, mostly on their part. They were protesting in defence of Ocalan who is pretty much the Kurdish equivalent of Sampson

And of course the Cyprus problem, the mother of all hypocrisies, people forget the mass graves full of TC women and children all too quickly it seems.