Turkey: It was like 9/11 !!

You have to wonder how people like this actually get to be a Foreign Minister, well, forget that, you have to wonder how a country like this manages to ... forget it - none of it makes sense regardless of how pathetic a country it is.



Turkish FM likens flotilla raid to 9/11




Shortly before meeting with US Secretary of State Clinton, Ahmet Davutoglu tells reporters in Washington, 'Israelis think they are above any law, but we will stop them'.  American sources tell Ynet decision to call off Netanyahu visit prevented embarrassment for Obama in light of events



Yitzhak Benhorin
June 1, 2010


WASHINGTON – As the tensions between Israel and Turkey escalate, senior officials from both countries arrived in Washington on Tuesday for a series of meetings, on the backdrop of the deadly Israel Defense Forces raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.

The incident prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off his meeting with US President Barack Obama, which was scheduled to take place at the White House on Tuesday.

A day after leading the move to condemn Israel at the United Nations Security Council, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was expected to meet with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday evening in Washington.

During a press conference ahead of the meeting, Davitoglu said he was disappointed with Washington's cautious response to an incident he likened to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

"Psychologically this attack is like 9/11 for Turkey because Turkish citizens were attacked by a state, not by terrorists, with an intention, a clear decision of political leaders of that state," he said.

"The Israelis think they are above any law, but Turkey and the rest of the international community will stop them," he said, comparing between the IDF operation and pirate operating in the Gulf of Eden.

Sources in Washington told Ynet that the decision to call off the Obama-Netanyahu meeting was made at the request of the Israeli side, which asked to move up the meeting to Monday evening, when the American president was unavailable after returning from a visit to Chicago.

The sources clarified, however, that they regretted the decision to postpone the meeting, which prevented an embarrassment for Obama in light of the recent events in the region.

PR efforts in Washington

National Security Advisor Uzi Arad continued his trip from Canada to Washington, where he met with Obama's national security advisor, James Jones and other White House officials.

Despite the wide protest against Israel across the world, former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger expressed his support for Israel in an interview with the MSNBC channel. He explained, however, that although the Navy operation was justified, its performance caused Israel damage.

Despite the claims of a serious PR failure following the incident, Israeli Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren presented Israel's stance on the major news channels. Oren told MSNBC that Israel was cooperating with the Americans and that Netanyahu had spoken to Obama three times in the past day.

Information Minister Yuli Edelstein joined the media efforts as well, giving interviews to a number of different channels. During a press conference at the Israeli Consulate in New York, the minister said that "Israel has nothing to apologize for over the operation it took in order to protect its citizens.

"Bringing goods into the Strip without supervision, as well as weapons and ammunition, is a move which could inflame the entire region and renew the circle of violence. The Turkish ship had activists trained by al-Qaeda who tried to hurt our forces."












retards