Posted on 06/04/2010 2:38:08 PM PDT by RC one
Turkey is on the brink of severing relations with Israel in the wake of killings of Turkish activists on board a Gaza-bound flotilla, the Turkish ambassador to the United States said Friday.
"Israel cannot find any better friend in the region than Turkey," Namik Tan, the ambassador, told a small group of reporters. "And Israel is about to lose that friend."
Asked if he was saying Turkey would cut the ties it has had with Israel since shortly after the founding of the Jewish state, Tan referred to the massive protests in Turkey against the Israeli actions. Because of the emotions, he said, "the government might be forced to take such an action."
To prevent such a break between two close U.S. allies, Tan said that "first and foremost" Israel needed to apologize for the deaths. He said Israel also must agree to an international probe of the incident and end its blockade of Gaza, which is controlled by the Hamas militant group.
Israeli officials say they tried to worked with Turkish officials before the incident to divert the flotilla to an Israeli port for off-loading and inspection of the humanitarian supplies onboard. Tan declined to discuss the conversations, saying it was intended as a distraction by Israel of its own actions. In any case, he said, the Turkish government had "no control" over the nongovernmental group that organized the flotilla.
Tan also indicated that U.S. efforts to mollify Turkey have failed, saying that Ankara continues to be "disappointed" that the Obama administration has not condemned Israel's actions.
He said Turkey appreciated U.S. efforts to secure the quick release of hundreds of activists and the bodies of the dead, but that was not enough, especially after Turkey's prime minister on Tuesday directly asked President Obama to condemn the deaths.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
What a surprise.
Yawn ...
The Muzzies see their day a-coming.
Only it’s a different day than what they’re hoping for.
I'd prefer to look at it this way -- Turkey is about to gain an enemy that possesses hundreds of hydrogen bombs on a multitude of delivery systems.
I am waiting for the Turkish military to stage a much needed coup and reinstate a secular government. Otherwise, this is going to get BAD.
I’m guessing, it’s going to get bad. This smells like war brewing.
In that case, perhaps Israel can find some new friends, such as the Cypriots and the Kurds.
Agreed. Yawnorama time. Lots of bloviating from the Saudi bankrolled islamic government running Turkey at the moment.
And then maybe soon, we can get back Constantinople.
Hoping for that outcome!
The Islamic party running the country is basically setting up their military to waste itself in a fight against a country which not only has the baddest military (other maybe the US) in the region, but one which because of past military ties and cooperation knows every single thing about them and their vulnerabilities.
Turkey has a long history of coups and a strong anti-clerical tradition in its military. And most Turks, appearances aside, consider Arabs almost sub-human. Push comes to shove, especially if the Turkish government orders them into what they perceive will be a slaughter, the politicians may not be able to rely on their military as much as their bluster suggests.
But not since Erdogan took office. Israel cannot find a better friend in this world than the United States, but not since Obama took office.
This attempt to run the blockade was intended to make Turkey's alliance with Israel politically untenable within Turkey. That is by design, because Erdogan wants to take Turkey in another direction and by demonizing Israel he demonizes the folks within Turkey who would stand in his way.
Obama's pals were on board these ships. He may also use this to gently start the process of nudging the US away from its friendship with Israel.
Turkey has lasted far too long, and now they probably really fancy themselves; what with hizb ut-tahrir growing out of their britches and frothing about a new kaliphate...
Just blow them away along with Iran. They’ve been a disloyal and backstabbing joke for years. Their military is probably ready to help the world take them down, they’re in the process of killing their own officer corps.
Bullsh!t. It’s not a floatilla you a$$holes.
It’s a dang Armanda!
Flotilla....spell check isn’t working.
Get these mo-fos out of NATO immediately.
Sounds like they’re ready to leave all by themselves. Bye Bye Turkey, We’ll all try to manage without you.
Well that will all start to change for Obama, starting this November, with the mid terms. Frankly, because of the oil spill, it is pretty much over for Obama.
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