السلطان رجب طيب أردوغان
إسرائيل لا تفهم إلّا اللغة التركيّة: اعتـذار بحجم الإهانة
أردوغان يتحدّث إلى الإعلام وتبدو خلفه صورة لمصطفى كمال أتاتورك (أوميت بكتاس ــ رويترز)
Arab Papers on Apology: Israel Only Understands Turkish
14/01/2010 The Arab press did not hide its elation over Israel’s apology to Turkey over its diplomatic faux pas. The Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar called the Turkish Prime Minister “Sultan Erdogan” in its main headline.
It continued on to quip: “Israel understands only Turkish: the apology was on the same scale as the humiliation.” “The threat was effective. The Israelis quickly got on their knees and made a move in proportionate to the humiliation they committed,” wrote the Lebanese paper. “They sent a letter of apology from Ayalon himself to President Gul after being pressured by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The most important thing state in the letter: ‘I apologize for the manner in which Israel behaved. I did not mean to humiliate the ambassador…’
The daily wrote that most importantly the wording of the apology was agreed upon between Netanyahu and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
“Erdogan’s response was to-the-point. He said that ‘he knows’ about the Israeli letter, and noted that Turkey ‘accepted the necessary and expected apology.’ This was an unprecedented apology from an Israeli official in light of the long and warm relations between Turkey and Israel. From now on, the ‘Turkish ambassador affair’, will be seen as setting a new standard for the level of tension between the two sides and for the level of Israeli arrogance, which seems to have learned ‘the Turkish language.’”
The newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi, took things a bit further. In an article published in the paper, the headline read that this was “an Israeli apology that humiliate Turkey.”
The article, which was apparently written prior to Prime Minister Erdogan’s acceptance of Israel’s apology, said “Erdogan’s government treated the Israeli rudeness in the way it deserved – that is to say, with force and determination. This is a manner to which Israeli governments are not accustomed, especially from Arab states, and, therefore, have been haughty until along came someone who knew how to act with them in a language they understand.”
Netanyahu, is worried about the growing Turkish Relations with Tehran and Damusciss
إسرائيل ترضخ للتهديد التركي وتقدم اعتذارا رسميا
14/01/2010 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday declared that Turkey had received an official apology from Israel over what the Turkish ambassador termed "humiliating" treatment by Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, saying that it was "the expected and desired response."
"I was told that we received the response that we wanted and expected in diplomatic terms," Erdogan told reporters at the airport after returning from a visit to Russia. "The letter includes an expression of apology," he said.
Erdogan added more criticism of Israel, telling a news conference: "Israel must put itself in order and it must be more just and more on the side of peace in the region."
A statement from the office of the Israeli prime minister on Wednesday said: "Prime minister [Binyamin] Netanyahu, together with foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman co-ordinated the apology letter sent by deputy foreign minister Ayalon to the Turkish ambassador and hopes this would end the affair."
Summoned Monday by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon over an anti-Israeli television show aired in Turkey, envoy Ahmet Oguz Celikkol was made to sit in a chair lower than that of Ayalon, while the Turkish flag was deliberately not put on display.
At the beginning of his Monday meeting with Celikkol, Ayalon told cameramen in Hebrew: "Pay attention that he is sitting in a lower chair ... that there is only an Israeli flag on the table and that we are not smiling."
In the letter of official apology, Ayalon wrote that "I had no intention to humiliate you personally and apologize for the way the demarche was handled and perceived."
"Please convey this to the Turkish people for whom we have great respect. I hope that both Israel and Turkey will seek diplomatic and courteous channels to convey messages as two allies should," the letter said.
The letter of apology was issued at the culmination of day-long consultations between Ankara and Tel Aviv, made after the Turks announced that Ayalon's first apology was insufficient, and Tel Aviv vowed no second apology would be made.
Israeli President Shimon Peres appealed to both Netanyahu and Lieberman and was eventually able to orchestrate a solution in the form of the apology. Peres called on both men to reexamine the decision not to offer Turkey an official apology, noting that digging the proverbial heels in this case may cost Israel dearly on the diplomatic front.
Peres made it clear that Israel should not be made to pay for Ayalon's highly embarrassing – and carefully staged – diplomatic faux pas. He then proceeded to convince Ayalon he had to solve the crisis, even at the expense of his pride.
Ayalon spoke on the matter with Lieberman, who told him the decision was ultimately his to make. Once Ayalon drafted the apology, and the wording was approved by Peres, Netanyahu and Lieberman, it was sent to Ambassador Celikkol.
On Tuesday, Israel's ambassador to Turkey, Gabriel Levy, called senior officials in the Turkish Foreign Ministry, and read to them the text of the apology from Ayalon. Levy stressed to the Turkish officials that this was a formal message from the government of Israel. "My protest of the attacks against Israel in Turkey still stands," Ayalon said. "However, it is not my way to insult foreign ambassadors and in the future I will clarify my position by more acceptable diplomatic means."
Ankara had threatened to recall Celikkol if no second, formal apology was made. According to Turkish media reports, this step had been taken, with Celikkol set to return Thursday morning after Israel said no such apology was on the table.
Abdullah Gul, the Turkish president, deemed the earlier Israeli apology on Wednesday as insufficient and threatened to recall his ambassador unless a formal apology was made by the end of the day.
"Unless they make up for it by this evening, our ambassador will return on the first plane tomorrow to hold consultations," Abdullah Gul, the Turkish president, was quoted as saying by the country's NTV news channel.
Israel had passed to the highest levels of the Turkish Foreign Ministry a copy of Ayalon's initial apology, which was published in the media on Wednesday morning.
Netanyahu on Wednesday expressed satisfaction with Ayalon's apology. He said that the Israeli deputy foreign minister's protest was justified, but that he should have used acceptable diplomatic means to express his outrage.
'AYALON SHOULD STEP DOWN'
A senior Israeli source told Ynet that "Ayalon made his bed and now he has to lie in it. This shouldn’t be a State problem."
Many in the diplomatic corps said Wednesday that Ayalon should step down over the incident and the embarrassment suffered by Israel.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is expected to visit Turkey next week, for a visit that was planed as part of the strategic and security cooperation between Tel Aviv and Ankara.
Barak is expected to meet with his Turkish counterpart, the Turkish foreign minister and chief of staff, and possibly President Abdullah Gul.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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