Cyprus-Forum.com

[CBBB]

Saturday, 3 September 2011

The eastern Mediterranean will no longer be a place where Israeli naval forces can freely exercise their “bullying” practices against civilian vessels, a Turkish official said Friday.

The official said this would be the outcome of Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s statement earlier in the day that “Turkey would take every precaution it deems necessary for the safety of maritime navigation in the eastern Mediterranean.”

Davutoglu’s statement about providing maritime safety in the eastern Mediterranean grabbed the most attention among the various sanctions against Israel the foreign minister announced Friday. He did not further elaborate, however, on what he meant by taking “every precaution.”

The Turkish foreign minister’s statement will likely spark a new faceoff between Turkey and Israel, the region’s strongest armies, in the eastern Mediterranean. A potential confrontation between the two countries’ navies would have serious negative consequences for regional stability.

Turkish diplomats told the Hürriyet Daily News that the Turkish Navy will be more visible in the eastern Mediterranean through regular patrolling in international waters. “A more aggressive strategy will be pursued. Israel will no longer be able to exercise its bullying practices freely,” one said.

Using Turkish naval vessels to escort ships carrying aid to Palestine and observing free navigation in the zone between the island of Cyprus and Israel are among the plans set to be implemented, sources said, adding that Turkish war ships would be more frequently seen in the area.

The zone described by Turkish sources has been the subject of a recent diplomatic struggle between Turkey and Greek Cyprus over the latter’s project to start drilling natural gas reserves. Greek Cyprus and Israel recently agreed to jointly initiate the drilling with the participation of some American companies.

Turkey sees the gas-exploration deal as an agreement between two hostile countries against Turkey and has urged both parties not to get involved in such a project before a solution is found to the Cyprus issue in order to preserve the stability of the eastern Mediterranean.

In an interview with daily Zaman on Friday, EU Minister Egemen Bagis hinted that Turkish Navy could intervene if Greek Cyprus does not call off the project. “That’s what a navy is for,” he said.

Erdogan plans Gaza visit

As part of Turkey’s more aggressive strategy against Israel, sources told the Daily News that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning to visit Hamas-controlled Gaza in the coming weeks, an intention he voiced in late July.

“Our prime minister has already instructed the Foreign Ministry to set a date for the visit. We are looking for the best timing for the visit,” a diplomatic source said. “Our primary purpose is to draw the world’s attention to what is going on in Gaza and to push the international community to end the unfair embargo imposed by Israel.”

Saturday, 3 September 2011

Hürriyet Daily News

http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/12261 ... 80%99.html

This sounds like fun!

[boomerang]

US regrets ongoing conflict between Turkey and Israel
By JPOST.COM STAFF
09/03/2011 04:44

State Department: We hope both sides can settle dispute; Democratic congressman calls Ankara government hypocritical.

The US State Department said on Friday that it regretted the ongoing diplomatic row between Turkey and Israel over the IDF interception of a Turkish Gaza-bound flotilla in which nine activists - eight Turkish and one American of Turkish descent - were killed.

"We regret that prior to the publication of the [Palmer] report they were unable to reach agreement on steps that might have helped overcome their differences," US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, adding that the US continues to hope that the governments in Ankara and Jerusalem will work for a complete resolution and fix their "longstanding relationship."

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Earlier Friday, US Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY) was more critical of Turkey, calling the government in Ankara hypocritical for its decision to expel Israel's ambassador to Ankara while Syria's envoy to Turkey remains in place.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Friday said that Israel's diplomatic presence in Turkey was being cut to second secretary level, effectively expelling Israeli diplomats after details emerged of the Palmer Report which dealt with the IDF raid on the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara ship.




"Turkey should be ashamed of itself," Engel, a senior member of the US House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee said in a statement. "In an almost unbelievable act of hypocrisy, the Syrian ambassador sits comfortably in Ankara, while the Assad regime kills more than 2000 of its own people, but Turkey has expelled the Israeli Ambassador for Israel’s proper enforcement of a legally-established blockade. Rather than bashing the only real democracy in the Middle East, Turkey should focus on its own problems, such as ending its occupation of Cyprus once and for all," he stated.

Engel also commented on the UN report on the raid of the Mavi Marmara: “The Palmer Commission report accurately confirmed that Israel acted within its rights in establishing a blockade of Gaza, and enforcing it. I think the report went too far, however, when it said Israel used ‘excessive’ force. Only after the Israelis faced serious, life-threatening violence did they act legally in self defense. I can see nothing wrong with that.”

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=236499

the problem with the turks is, too much chest beating and when they are called, they start crying foul...

this spat with israel is definetely gonna cost them...for once the turks are gonna feel like we feel...the US will always be on israel's side, like the US picks the turks over the roc...what surprises me the most, is how the turkish top echelon fails to see this...quite unbelievable...

[Sotos]

Do you think the Turks are stupid enough to actually have a military confrontation with Israel by sending their navy to threaten them? If they are that stupid then the time we can liberate Cyprus from the Turks is approaching Greece+Cyprus+Israel+Kurdistan with the backing of EU/US vs Turkey ... who will support the Turks in such conflict? Iran? Azerbaijan? Syria???

[fig head]

This issue is beyond "the Cyprus problem" Turkey proving over time how brave they can be, they have the guts to say NO to to Israel , Weather the US supported Israel or not Turkey will be the main controller in the area, I for once will put emotions a side, the issue here is the Israeli non stop violations in the area..

This is brilliant , may the Arabic countries and Iran be there for Turkey, after all the Israeli issues in the middle east is the biggest issues in the middle east.

[Pyrpolizer]

Guys guys guys... I told you before watch and learn:The Turks are masters in politics.

The whole aim for all this is to confuse EVERYBODY and measure their responses.
They will do NOTHING unless they first make sure a)it will not cost them anything b)they will gain something.
The Turks DON'T TAKE RISKS, they are always after the SURE THING.

So far they succeeded perfectly even Ban Ki Moon got disturbed and made a statement.

NB. Just watch how they let the Gaza incident sleeping for almost a year now to utilize it like a tramp card any time THEY would choose.

[Hermes]

‘Israel’s Bullying in Eastern Med is Over’

I think that should read 'Turkey's Bullying in Eastern Med is Over' ....

[Hermes]

In an interview with daily Zaman on Friday, EU Minister Egemen Bagis hinted that Turkish Navy could intervene if Greek Cyprus does not call off the project. “

And this is the idiot in charge of Turkey's so-called EU accession...

[Kikapu]

I'm just curious. Does this so called "Turkish terrestrial waters" cover the whole of Eastern Mediterranean or only the areas south of the RoC's coastline? If it's the whole Eastern Mediterranean, why hasn't Turkey try to stop Israel from drilling also?

By SERVET YANATMA

Turkish minister warns Greek Cypriots about oil exploration in Mediterranean

Turkish EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış has issued a warning to the Greek Cypriot administration, saying that Turkey will not hesitate to deploy war ships in the Mediterranean if Greek Cypriots enter Turkish terrestrial waters during their oil exploration efforts in the Mediterranean, scheduled to start on Oct. 1.

Saying that Turkey has sent naval vessels to the area in cases like this before, Bağış added, “This is what we have the navy for.”

Greek Cyprus has declared that it will begin oil exploration in the Mediterranean on Oct. 1. Can you comment on this?

The kinds of things that have happened in the past [Turkish naval interference with exploration] whenever the Greek Cypriots have made such attempts may well happen again. That is how serious Turkey is. Doing this in waters where they have no jurisdiction is illegal. Turkey will rely on international law to pursue its rights to the fullest extent.

Will the navy send a fleet?

This is what we have the navy for. We have trained our marines for this; we have equipped the navy for this. All options are on the table; anything can be done.

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-255674- ... anean.html

[Pyrpolizer]

Turkey doesn't want Cyprus to get oil out It can do nothing with Israel or Egypt who are already doing it, but having Cyprus in the group would make her lose everything (including the occupied) let aside her role in the region. Turkey knows there have been agreements between Cyprus and Israel in fact Israel will install it's pipeline and liquification facilities in Cyprus and use Cyprus to export from there. It is more cost effective, safer, and indirectly places Israel inside the EU.
Although it is obvious that Turkey is rather late in taking any action to avert all these it is still NOT too late.
I insist the Turks are masters in politics and we better watch and learn from them. Instead of pointing to the real issue they point at another issue: That of the Turkish civilians who were killed one year ago while trying to enter Gaza.This is a brilliant Turkish diplomacy, add to that that the Turks were clever enough to have kept the whole issue sleeping for almost a year to use right now.. For the moment they are collecting and measuring responses. Even the poor UNSG was carried away and issued a statement, thinking that what matters for Turkey was supposedly the "freedom" for Gaza and her wounded pride for the killed Turkish civilians. Depending on how effective the Turks will be in gathering international support for the Gaza issue, they might send another boat with civilians to Gaza escorted by military navy. Of course once again they will be threatening to do so for let’s say a month,. collecting and measuring responses. I would not be surprised if Israel yields and cancels all it's agreements and plans with Cyprus to save themselves from the humiliation of having to allow Turkish civilians escorted by Turkish navy enter the Gaza, or else a hot incident with Turkey.
In either case Turkey will surface, as the innocent victim!! Amazing!!

[Hermes]

I would not be surprised if Israel yields and cancels all it's agreements and plans with Cyprus to save themselves from the humiliation of having to allow Turkish civilians escorted by Turkish navy enter the Gaza, or else a hot incident with Turkey.
In either case Turkey will surface, as the innocent victim!! Amazing!!

I'm not so sure, Pyrpolizer. Your analysis gives too much credit to Turkey. It's not making policy in the region but desperately reacting to events that are running against its interests, I really can't see Israel yielding an inch to Turkey. Turkish policy in the Eastern Med is on the verge of collapse that's why they're desperately making threats to all its neighbours (so much for its zero-problems policy).

Israel/Greece/Cyprus/EU/US interests are all lined up against Turkey and there's little they can do. Israel won't back down otherwise it risks losing everything. Strange as it may seem, Israeli policy is linked to Cyprus and the EU now thanks to the gas fields. While Turkey is lined up with Islamic and reactionary Arab forces. Who is going to back down first? Can you see the EU and Israel ceding its gas interests in the Med to Turkey? Not likely.

Turkish threats are all bluster - the last throw of the dice by a desperate gambler who is on a losing streak.