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Turkish assault boats may be in East Med at any time, Erdoğan says
“Israel will not be able to move in the Eastern Mediterranean as it wishes. It will see our determination in this regard,” he said at a joint press conference with Tunisian interim Prime Minister Beji Caid el Sebsi on Thursday.
Erdoğan is on a tour of three North African countries -- Egypt, Tunisia and Libya -- whose regimes have been toppled in recent months in widespread pro-reform protests that came to be commonly known as the Arab Spring. The tour comes amid a crisis in Turkey's relations with Israel. Earlier this month, Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador and other senior diplomats and suspended military agreements with the Jewish state after Israel refused to apologize for a deadly raid in 2010 on an aid ship trying to break the blockade of Gaza, which resulted in the deaths of eight Turks and a Turkish-American.
Turkey also vowed to take measures to ensure freedom of navigation in the Eastern Mediterranean, raising the possibility of a naval confrontation with Israel. Ankara says the blockade of Gaza is illegal and promised to seek a review of the blockade by the International Court of Justice. Erdoğan said in Tunisia that Turkey will ensure freedom of navigation for all ships, not only those that are headed to Gaza.
Tunisia elections and secularism
Erdoğan also said Turkey would seek the best relations with whichever party wins the most support in Tunisia's elections next month. The North African country is set to elect a constituent assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution during the Oct. 23 polls, the country's first elections since the January toppling of long-time dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Rached Ghannouchi, whose Islamic Ennahda movement is considered Tunisia's most popular party, has repeatedly expressed admiration for Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
“We respect the choices of the Tunisian people. We will have the best relations with whichever party is preferred by the people of Tunisia,” Erdoğan said in response to a question.
Erdoğan also commented on secularism, saying Turkey prefers a model of secularism that is not identical to the “Anglo-Saxon or Western model,” without elaborating. “Individuals cannot be secular, states are. A devout Muslim can successfully govern a secular state,” Erdoğan said.
Erdoğan, who arrived in Tunisia on Wednesday night, was welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd. Hundreds of Tunisians, waving Turkish and Palestinian flags and carrying posters of Erdoğan, waited for hours at Tunis airport to welcome the Turkish prime minister.
Ennahda leader Ghannouchi joined the crowds, praising Erdoğan as someone who had "worked hard for Islam".
Erdoğan has been holding up Turkey's blend of Islam and democracy as a model for the movements which have toppled entrenched Arab autocrats in Tunis, Cairo and Tripoli.
"The most important thing of all and Tunisia will prove this; Islam and democracy can exist side by side," he said during the news conference.
"Turkey, as a country which is 99 percent Muslim, does this comfortably, we do not have any difficulty. There is no need to hinder this by putting forward different approaches. In the broadest sense, consultation will put forward the will of the people," he said.
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