Gaza attacks put chill in US-Turkey relation

ANKARA/GAZA

Civil defense members try to dig out an injured Palestinian man, who is buried under the sand after an Israeli air raid near his car in the northern Gaza Strip. Nearly 20 were killed in violent exchange between Israel and Hamas. REUTERS photo

Turkish leaders have called on the U.S. in particular to warn Israel as it continued to pound Gaza with bombs for a second day while they asked the international community for a harsh condemnation of Israel’s actions.

President Abdullah Gül said everybody expected the U.S. warn Israel and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu urged his U.S. counterpart, Hillary Clinton, by phone to pressure Israel in order to ease tension in the region. In his phone conversation with Clinton, Davutoğlu said it was important to take steps to de-escalate tension on both sides. Davutoğlu also conveyed the frustration of the Palestinian Authority that the Israeli assault came after recent sanctions against Palestinians to block their upcoming initiative in the U.N. to be recognized as a non-member state.

“Regardless of Hamas or Fatah, President Mahmoud Abbas thinks that the attack was conducted over the Palestinian initiative,” Foreign Ministry officials told the Hürriyet Daily News. Turkey is concerned mounting tension about the Gaza issue may also worsen current problems like the Syrian crisis, according to Turkish officials. It was not possible to tolerate Israel’s attacks on Gaza, Gül said. “On the contrary, it should be condemned harshly. There is no doubt that a U.S. warning of Israel is highly expected by everyone,” Gül said.

“We are extremely concerned about the recent Israeli offensive against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and, frankly speaking, I strongly condemn the attack,” Gül said.

Gül said the likelihood of such an attack ahead of the general elections in Israel was a highly discussed topic in international public opinion. The president said Israel had carried out a similar attack in Gaza before the Israeli elections in 2009. It appeared that the attacks had the potential to escalate, he added. Turkey would take steps at international institutions for necessary measures against Israel’s “aggressive position,” Davutoğlu told reporters yesterday in Djibouti.

Turkey would make efforts at both the OIC and other international institutions to condemn Israel’s actions and to push for necessary measures, he added. Davutoğlu said he had held talks with Hamas Political Bureau chief Khaled Mashaal, as well as authorities in Gaza and Egypt.

In remarks delivered late Nov. 14, EU Minister Egemen Bağış said the Israeli attack on Gaza was a maneuver for parliamentary elections that would be held in Israel and also an effort to create turmoil after the U.S. presidential election. Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan also called the international community to react against the recent Israeli assault on Gaza.

“I see it very important for the international community to show the necessary reaction to Israel against its assault [on Gaza]. As Turkey, we have always been together with the oppressed people of Gaza. Our solidarity will continue in the future as well,” Babacan said. Moshe Kamhi, the consul general of Israel in Istanbul, said the air strikes would continue until the safety of Israelis living in the country’s south is assured.