INTERNATIONAL > Obama urges Netanyahu to end diplomatic crisis with Turkey: Report

ISTANBUL

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and US President Barack Obama shake hands during a joint press conference at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem, March 20, 2013, on the first day of Obama's three day trip to Israel. AFP photo

U.S. President Barack Obama urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take steps to end the diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey during their meeting, Haaretz daily reported March 21. Obama, who is currently making his first visit to Israel and the West Bank, touched on the issue of the strained relations between the two countries, a senior White House official who requested anonymity told the Israeli paper.

According to Haaretz, the official said the president "urged the Israeli government to work toward normalization of ties between the two countries," making it clear that the U.S. valued strong friendships with both Israel and Turkey.

Diplomatic relations between the two had been downgraded after nine Turkish nationals were killed on board the Mavi Marmara ship, which was part of an aid flotilla attempting to break the naval blockade of Gaza. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's remarks last month in which he called Zionism a crime against humanity received strong reactions in Israel and added a new row to the already strained relations

"Just like Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism, it becomes unavoidable that Islamophobia must be regarded as a crime against humanity," Erdoğan said at a United Nations conference in Vienna. He has stood behind his words, adding that he would continue to criticize Israel as long as it did not recognize the existence of the Palestinian state.

March/21/2013

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Sinan Osman

3/22/2013 8:20:25 PM

@joe Maddin Those tiny and poor states u mentioned pose 0 threat to Turkey all-together. Turkey is traditionally Military-Industrial Complex where 75 milions of Turks are always prepared for War. I want to Remind you if you forgot, Turkey defeted France and United Kingdom at Galipoli, can you imagine what it could do to Israel and Iraq

Baris

3/22/2013 7:43:04 PM

Red Tail, it isn't silly and today 's apology from Israel proves it. There's no justification for what IDF did. I have read the Palmer Report, and even Palmer criticises Israel for boarding the ship so far out at sea without adequate warning, of using excessive force against civilians and mistreating passengers during and after the event. Report says Israel hasn’t accounted for shooting the deceased “multiple times, including in the back, or at close range”. Here's another report, A/HRC/15/21.

joe Maddin

3/22/2013 5:20:31 PM

Israel will not stay idle. If it sees that Erdogan is closed to friendship, he then becomes one more enemy and will join Syria and Iraq in its actions to unsettle Erdogan. Cover terrorists operations using proxies will abound soon. The first will ones will directed at disrupting the PKK-Erdogan deal, so as the weaken Erdogan The message from Israel's Mossad to Erdogan will be soon very clear: You won't become the president unless we want it.

anton supertramp

3/22/2013 4:58:44 PM

@brain irlanda althou you are right with the fault on palestenian side, much of the blame falls on israelis, its smoke and mirrors when they say they recognize pal state, day by day construction of homes and israelization of those lands continues,it would be credible if they have stopped the buildings@joe maddin, First issue an official apology and if erdogan still drags his foot about reconcilation, then i am on your side, deal? :) until that day you can speculate all you want

Red Tail

3/22/2013 4:27:51 PM

Baris. Your summary is quite silly and it does not serve an serious purpose.To just cherry pick and exagerate a few items in the story and they try to draw conclusions from that, will only make us Turks look uninformed and incapabable of seeing a wider picture. Instead of nagging on this issue for the 1000th time, why not read the Palmer report? It was penned by a commision which was set up by Turkey and Israel together to shed light on the issue. That is where you can read objective information

Murat

3/22/2013 3:58:57 PM

Bibi has killed all prospects of any true reconciliation when he pinned medals on the killers of Mavi Marmara. Turkish blood is on the hands of Israeli murderers, not the other way around. Seems to be a pattern with Israel. Demand for aplogy was a gift! This can not be swept under a rug. It does not matter what party and what government rules. Justice is demanded. What would Israel do? Killers need to be punished. That simple.

Al Rashid

3/22/2013 3:53:07 PM

Ha, Ha all the corporate political 'weasel words' from Obama and Netanyahu have given the zionists and their apologists a false sense of glee. Nothing has changed. Discredited zionism will continue with it's racist policies. Palestinian children will still be verbally and physically abused by the IDF, vis a vis the recent UN report. Murdered Turks on a humanatarian mission will not receive justice. Turkey is a proud, honest and respected nation. It does not need to deal with pariah states.

Çılgın Kanarya

3/22/2013 3:34:16 PM

GİL HAL, are you for real? You say that the Israeli "naval force" which boarded the Mavi Marmara "did not anticipate hostility". The guys who decended onto that boat from helicopters were a team of fully armed SPECİAL FORCES COMMANDOS! Do you think they were deployed for their negotiating abilities? These kind of forces are trained to kill, no questions asked, which explains the single-shot bullet holes in the backs of the Turkish civilians' heads. Those poor protesters were executed. Accept it.

joe Maddin

3/22/2013 3:09:41 PM

For now and until his election, Erdogan wants to keep the Islamist Turks who are deeply anti-Israel, happy. He also wants to keep his lucrative business relation with the Arab country. He will not re establish the relation with Israel any time soon

Brian Irlanda

3/22/2013 1:25:59 PM

The PM is wrong about one important thing. I am no friend of Israel and dislike their policies regarding Palestinians. In Ireland as a lot of people will know we are supporters of Palestinian rights to their own homeland. However...Israel does recognise that there should be a Palestinian State, but it is the Palestinians who officially do not recognise Israels right to exist! There needs to be give and take on both sides. Politicians need to keep up to date with the situation before commenting.

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