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Ankara: Time is running out for Israel
On May 31, Israeli commandos killed one US national and eight Turkish peace activists when they boarded the Mavi Marmara, part of a six-vessel convoy that set out to challenge the blockade of the Gaza Strip. The bloodshed triggered an international outcry and further damaged Israel’s already strained ties with Turkey.
“We have the feeling that Israel has been taking no heed of our clear demands in the aftermath of this crime,” a senior Turkish diplomat told Today’s Zaman on Wednesday. “We won’t wait long to see if Israel will take action that has been demanded of it,” the diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, added.
The government has already evaluated the political, economic and legal consequences of cutting bilateral cooperation with Israel in numerous fields and that it will start taking retaliatory measures in all fields after specified timeframe is given to Israel to apologize.
Soon after the attack Ankara said Israel will have to “bear the consequences” of its lethal attack and stated that Israel must make amends to be forgiven for the assault on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla, including apologizing for the attack and paying compensation. The attack brought the already strained relationship between the Jewish state and Turkey close to the breaking point.
“An apology is Israel’s exit if it really wants to normalize relations with Turkey, and we are firm in our demand for an apology,” the diplomat said, noting that Turkey is not willing to completely sever its relations with Israel. “Destroying such ties is easier than establishing them. But we are ready to face the negative impact of cutting these ties in an eventual absence of an apology from the Israeli side.”
Aware of Turkey’s firm stance and anger over the issue, Washington is not eager to see two of its key allies in the region end their cooperation. US officials have been exerting efforts to persuade Israel to offer an apology to Turkey, Today’s Zaman learned from diplomatic sources.
Turkey’s outgoing Ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oğuz Çelikkol arrived in the Turkish capital for “consultations” only days after the Israeli commandos’ lethal seizure of the Gaza-bound aid convoy.
There is no decision over when Çelikkol will return to Tel Aviv. It may take a long time, with Ankara seriously considering the option of scaling down diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel to a chargé d’affaires level, or even to a “second secretary,” something it had done once in the early 1980s.
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