TURKEY tr-diplomacy

Cheney daughter accuses Turkey of joining anti-Israel plot

ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News | 6/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | ÜMİT ENGİNSOY

Liz Cheney, daughter of former US vice president Dick Cheney, accused Turkey of joining an axis of countries and groups seeking to harm Israel.

Liz Cheney, daughter of former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney and a former senior State Department official known for her conservative views, on Sunday accused Turkey of joining an axis of countries and groups seeking to harm Israel.

Israel's enemies "want to destroy the state of Israel, and they are supported in that by Iran, Syria and, now, it looks like Turkey as well," Cheney told ABC television's "This Week" program.

"The prime minister of Turkey has stood up and said Hamas is not a terrorist organization. The Turks themselves have allied themselves with Iran and Syria," she said, according to a transcript.

Cheney's remarks came in the wake of a raid by Israeli commando troops on a Turkish-led aid flotilla for Gaza, in which nine pro-Palestinian activists, all Turks, were killed. The incident and Turkey's strong reaction brought the Turkish-Israeli relationship to an unprecedented low.

[HH] Blaming Obama

Also in a written statement released earlier at the weekend, the Republican Cheney accused Democratic President Barack Obama of encouraging what she called the "Turkish-Syrian-Iranian axis."

"President Obama is contributing to the isolation of Israel, and sending a clear signal to the Turkish-Syrian-Iranian axis that their methods for ostracizing Israel will succeed, and will be met by no resistance from America," she said.

Liz Cheney, elder daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, is an attorney and held senior posts at the State Department during former president George W. Bush's term. Between 2005 and 2007, she was principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.

Now, she is viewed as a strong voice on foreign policy for the Republican Party's right wing. Following last week's deadly flotilla raid, many U.S.-Israeli umbrella organizations mostly defended Israel's action, but some left-wing groups put the blame on Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government and called for an investigation.