Turkey protests Israel comment

15/02/2009| IslamWeb

Turkey's foreign ministry has summoned Israel's ambassador to complain about a comment made by a senior Israeli general, accusing Ankara of killing Armenians in 1915, and of oppressing Kurds and occupying Cyprus.

Major General Avi Mizrahi, commander of the Israeli army headquarters made the remarks at a military base in Israel on Tuesday.

He was quoted as saying that the Turkish prime minister, who criticized Israel's action in the Gaza Strip, "should first look in the mirror" and spoke about Ottoman massacres of Armenians during World War I and the Kurdish conflict in Turkey.

The Foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday that Israeli ambassador to Turkey was handed a note of protest, asking the Israeli authorities for an urgent clarification.

The statement described Mizrahi's remarks as "baseless" and contained "unacceptable claims and nonsense targeting our prime minister and our country."

The Turkish military also denounced Mizrahi's remarks, saying they "distort the realities and are excessive, unfortunate and unacceptable."

Such comments "can harm national interests in relations between the two countries," the military said in a statement.

"We expect the Israeli general staff, which we believe places importance on relations with the Turkish armed forces, to clarify the issue," it added.

Strained relations

In Jerusalem, the Israeli army later issued a statement saying Mizrahi's remarks were not representative of its views.

"General Mizrahi said some things that might be construed as critical of Turkey. The army spokesman wishes to clarify that this is not the official position of the army."

The Gaza conflict has strained relations between Israel and Turkey, a predominantly Muslim non-Arab nation which has been Israel's main regional ally since the two signed a military cooperation accord in 1996.

On January 29, Erdogan stormed out from a heated debate on the Gaza war at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland after clashing with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Before walking off, he said Israel committed "barbarian" acts in Gaza, told Peres that "you know well how to kill people" and lashed out at the audience for applauding the Israeli president's emotional defense of the war.

PHOTO CAPTION

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (L) storms out of a debate on the Middle East as Israel's President Shimon Peres remains seated at the World Economic Forum in Davos January 29, 2009.

Al-Jazeera