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Israel has chance to fix damage in ties, Davutoğlu says
“When Israel follows a policy of peace, we have good relations,” Davutoğlu, who was on a visit to London on Tuesday, said in an interview with The Guardian. Before a deadly offensive in Gaza last January, Turkey had mediated indirect talks between Syria and Israel and made “remarkable” progress, he said. But the Israeli incursion had scuppered the talks.
“That attack changed many things. ... It created a very unstable situation in the region” that even Barack Obama had been unable to overcome. Since then, there had been further “provocations” such as additional Jewish settlement building in east Jerusalem. “If Israel wants peace, they must learn that others have rights that must be respected,” he said.
Some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed during the 22-day military offensive in the Gaza Strip that Israel launched in late December 2008 in response to Hamas rocket attacks.
Israel says that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s often fierce public condemnation of its policies could undermine relations. But, speaking at a joint press conference with his British counterpart, David Miliband, on Tuesday, Davutoğlu said it was Turkey’s right to criticize Israel over the Gaza offensive because his country had worked hard to reduce tensions in the region “and one attack destroyed all this infrastructure for peace.”
“As one of the leading countries in this region, we cannot tolerate humanitarian tragedies,” Davutoğlu said. A year after the offensive, Gazans still lacked houses, children did not have schools and the blockade continued, he said. “Gaza is still like a ghetto in our region,” he added.
If Israel responded to international calls to stop settlement building and worked for peace, Turkish-Israeli relations would immediately change “in a positive direction,” the foreign minister told the press conference.
Earlier on Tuesday, Davutoğlu, credited with designing Turkey’s active foreign policy in the Middle East, responded to criticism over Turkey’s dialogue with the Palestinian group Hamas and Iran. “Turkey’s stance on Iran and Palestine serves to reduce tensions,” Davutoğlu said in a speech at King’s College. “In our region, countries are not divided into extremists and moderates,” he added.
Historic moment in Cyprus
During his talks with Miliband, Davutoğlu has also urged Britain to be more active in supporting efforts for a settlement in Cyprus so that a solution could be reached soon.
“We asked Britain to more actively speed up the negotiation process and support [Turkish Cypriot Mehmet Ali] Talat’s constructive stance,” Davutoğlu told a joint press conference with Miliband, after talks in London on Tuesday. “We are facing a historic moment in Cyprus.”
Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias began a new round of intensified talks on Wednesday on reunification of the island. In a development that cast a shadow over prospects for success, the Greek Cypriot side has recently rejected Talat’s proposals on power-sharing. Ankara had welcomed the proposals. Observers say a period of uncertainty on the island’s fate is the most likely result if talks on ending the island’s division do not produce an agreement before presidential elections in Turkish Cyprus, slated for April.
Miliband said Cyprus was extensively discussed during talks with Davutoğlu and underlined that the year 2010 will be crucial for the Cyprus issue. The British foreign secretary said the fate of the talks was important for all EU member countries.
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