Re: Turkey is a rising regional power, coming into a natural alliance with Israel...
Natural?! Turkey is 90% Muslim! I think you're making the same blunder as most pundits did in 1978 about Iran: remember, the US thought that Iran was their "foul weather" ally... until they realized that their Iranian fan club amounted to nothing more than Mr Reza Pahlavi and his family.... The same holds true today with Turkey, Egypt,... The Palestinian ordeal puts a great strain on the legitimacy of (moderate/secular) Arab regimes.
Anti-Sharon demonstrations in Turkey
Turkey-Israel, Politics, 8/9/2001
Turkey witnessed demonstrations against the visit to Ankara by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
The Turkish demonstrators chanted anti-Israel slogans and labelled Sharon as "assassin" and "Nazi".
Turkish police rounded up 131 demonstrators who protested the visit. Turkish newspaper lashed out at the visit and attacked Ankara for receiving the Israeli Premier.
Turkey, meantime, rejected Israel's stances on peace negotiations and confirmed that Sharon's demand for halting violence before the start of negotiations is illogical.
Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said at a press conference he gave with Sharon yesterday that the Isaeli demand does not benefit peace.
Meanwhile, NTV network said the talks that were held between Sharon and Prime Minister earlier yesterday showed that there might be some differences in viewpoints between Turkey and Israel as regards the Middle East peace process, and that the two sides would not let these differences affect their bilateral relations.
[...]
arabicnews.com |
