The Israeli Embassy in Ankara sent an angry message to Jerusalem on Monday, saying the report on Israeli-Turkish ties drafted by the Foreign Ministry’s Center for Political Research was “divorced from reality,” English-language Haaretz reported on Wednesday. Israeli Embassy officials in Ankara, approached by Today’s Zaman, declined to comment on Haaretz’s report, neither confirming nor denying its content.
The ministry’s report comes weeks after Israel’s deputy foreign minister enraged Turkey by summoning Ankara’s ambassador for a humiliating public reprimand. It says the reprimand made it clear to Turkey that there must be a limit to its criticism. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon summoned Ambassador Oğuz Çelikkol to protest a Turkish TV show depicting Israeli agents as cruel and refused to shake his hand while forcing him to sit on a low sofa. Israel was forced to apologize after Turkey threatened to recall the ambassador.
Haaretz stated on Wednesday that the ministry report termed Ayalon’s diplomatic rudeness against Çelikkol a “success,” noting that Turkey had understood Israel’s “hint,” -- that Tel Aviv thought Turkish hostility toward Israel had crossed a red line.
“One reason why the report was greeted with such shock at the Israeli Embassy in Turkey was that its authors, some of whom had worked at the Ankara embassy in the past, did not consult the current embassy staff in Ankara. Embassy personnel were also miffed that the report was disseminated so widely and with such a low security classification, at a time when Israel’s relations with Turkey are already badly strained,” Haaretz said.
“The embassy said the ministry report contained serious accusations against Turkey that are simply at variance with the facts. For example, it disagreed with the allegation that Erdoğan is inciting anti-Semitism, explaining that the concept of anti-Semitism in Turkey is different than it is in Israel or Europe. The Turkish establishment, the embassy said in a telegram, is not anti-Semitic, and terms used in Erdoğan’s speeches that were viewed as anti-Semitic here were seen as just the opposite by the Turks. The embassy also said that in the past -- when Israel’s approach to the peace process was more to his liking -- Erdoğan maintained close ties with Israel,” Haaretz elaborated.
On Tuesday, without making any reference to the Israeli ministry’s report, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu had already highlighted that criticizing Israel’s policies should not be labeled anti-Semitism.
