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US denies putting pressure on Israel, Turkey to repair ties
“We are not using pressure. We do support both our friends. We believe that the two countries will work together again, not just to settle their differences but for the stability and security of the region,” US Ambassador Francis J. Ricciardone was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency on Tuesday when he hosted a reception at the embassy residence to mark the 235th anniversary of the independence of the United States of America.
Israeli and Turkish diplomats have been working in New York on the proper wording for a statement regarding the Mavi Marmara incident that would satisfy both sides.
The diplomats are working on a statement to replace an official report that is expected to be released on Thursday and that will most likely blame both sides for wrongdoings. Nine civilians were killed during a lethal Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara, which was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza to breach what organizers called “Israel's illegal naval blockade.”
Turkey demands an official apology and compensation for the families of the victims. Israel says its soldiers acted in self-defense.
Ricciardone's remarks were an apparent response to a news report by the leading Israeli English-language daily, Haaretz. Citing remarks by an Israeli government official, the daily said on Monday that “the United States has been exerting heavy pressure on both sides to work out their differences by the time the report comes out Thursday.”
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was among dignitaries who attended the reception at the US Embassy residence. Davutoğlu came to the reception along with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, with whom he held a meeting before the reception. Al-Nahyan is in Turkey as part of preparations for an upcoming Libya Contact Group meeting that will be hosted in İstanbul on July 15.
Delivering a speech at the reception, Davutoğlu stated that Turkey and the US remain strong allies and friends and that consultations between the two countries also benefit other regions.
Turkish-American relations had evolved in a positive way, the minister said, recalling the close alliance between the two countries during the Cold War. Noting that Turkey and the US have worked together on a number of problematic issues since the Cold War, Davutoğlu said the two countries are now two model partners, which largely developed after the visit of US President Barack Obama to Turkey in 2009 as part of his first overseas trips.
Underlining that ties between the US and Turkey are not limited to just security or military relations but also have cultural and economic dimensions, he said the area that relations between the two countries covers is now bigger and that this is important not only for the US and Turkey but also for other regions.
For his part, Ricciardone told those present that the event was not a simple celebration and that it is another reason to recall values such as equality, freedom and democracy.
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