Turkish PM: Israel Treating Palestinians as They Were Treated
By Hanoch Marmari
Haaretz
Sunday 06 June 2004
Ankara - Israel is not contributing to the peace process, is killing women and children
indiscriminately and destroying Palestinian houses, in short, treating the Palestinians as they
themselves were treated 500 years ago, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an
exclusive interview with Haaretz.
In his first interview to a member of the Israeli media following growing tensions in bilateral
relations sparked by Israel Defense Forces operations in Gaza, Erdogan says there is is no way to
describe such actions except as "state terrorism."
The interview in Erdogan's office here comes a week after the Turkish prime minister met with
Infrastructure Minister Joseph Paritzky and asked him: What is the difference between terrorists who
kill Israeli civilians, and Israel, which also kills civilians?
Turkey and Israel are bound by strong and ongoing relations. In your view, has there been a recent
change in attitude on the Turkish side, or by the Turkish government, with regard to Israel?
First of all, regarding our relations with Israel, they must be understood on several different fronts.
One is the relationship between the governments, and the other is between the peoples. And another
way of looking at our relations would be through our political, economic, trade and social ties.
When we look at relations on the level of the peoples, we cannot even conceive of any problems.
As far as the Turkish side is concerned, there are no problems here. It isn't even on our agenda.
There might be different evaluations by some individuals or some marginal groups, but as far as the
Turkish government is concerned, our view with regard to the people of Israel is very objective.
But at the level of the government, we are in favor of the peace process being regenerated, and the
government of Israel has not contributed to our efforts to do so. Why am I saying this? I would have
wished that a government, a cabinet, would not decide to carry out an assassination, because
governments should never put aside the law.
You have recently defined three kinds of terrorist activities: Personal terrorism, institutional
terrorism and state terrorism. Do you think that Israel is practicing a form of 'state terrorism?'
I'll be very sincere and open in sharing my observations with you. When you look at the structure
of what has happened, that's how the world has interpreted it.
Do you think that there is a fourth way of looking at terrorism - that there are countries that support
institutions or individuals who are terrorists?
Of course I can.
You recently met with quite a few Middle East heads of state, and several Arab leaders have
visited Ankara. Maintaining close relations with Israel puts Turkey in a unique position in our region.
How do you view the actual Turkish position in the Middle East?
Historically, we have played an important role in the Middle East. There was a period of cold
relations for a while, there was a gap in the relations. We have closed that gap.
While doing so, we wanted to act as a mediator for peace in the Middle East, to serve as mediator
between Israel and the other countries of the Middle East. We brought this up in every meeting we
had. I hope to be able to continue in this.
According to news reports we've heard today, you are going on a first visit to Iran at the end of the
month. Are you considering a visit to Israel, as you promised a few months ago, or will you invite
Prime Minister Sharon to Ankara?
I had a meeting with your minister of energy [Infrastructure Minister Paritzky] and explained to him
what I had in mind in regard to this visit. Regarding my visit to Iran, all the ministers involved have
already visited there, and the Iranians have also sent their counterparts here. So it became a process
in which I had to find time to visit there myself.
My counterpart, Iran's first vice-president who serves as their prime minister, has visited here and I
haven't reciprocated his invitation until now. It is only correct to analyze these relations
symmetrically, be it with Iran or Israel.
But I was in the midst of planning to send my foreign minister to Israel and Palestine [sic] when all
these incidents occurred. According to the plans, my visit should have taken place after my foreign
minister's visit to Israel. We don't have a problem in terms of going [there] or receiving [Israeli] guests.
So are we going to be honored with your visit sometime in the near future?
First we need to rearrange my foreign minister's visit, and then we can plan the next steps. After
all, the president of Israel came and was our guest here. As far as Turkey is concerned, we do not
have a problem with this issue.
The special relations between Israel and Turkey are unique in another sense - the close relations
between the Jewish state and one of the greatest Islamic states are, and should be, a model for the
way in which common ground can bridge over differences and diversities. Do you think that these
relations will survive the actual crisis?
If the parties are sincere, yes. The relations are strong enough to overcome the difficulties. We
should never forget this. Our forefathers, at their strongest time in history, opened up their hearts to
the Jews who had been driven out of Spain at the time of the Inquisition and opened up their hearts
and homes to the Jews. Jews were the victims at that time.
Today, the Palestinians are the victims, and unfortunately the people of Israel are treating the
Palestinians as they were treated 500 years ago. Bombing people - civilians - from helicopters, killing
people without any considerations - children, women, the elderly - razing their buildings using
bulldozers. When I explained all this to your minister of energy, his response was 'only a friend can
be this sincere and talk this openly.'
You see, both history and geography force us to speak out on this matter. When we get to the
roots of our mutual history and when we analyze the geography, we have to be honest with each
other and talk about our concerns. There was a terrorist attack in Turkey on the 15th of November.
I took all the relevant ministers with me, and we personally visited the chief rabbi of this country,
just as I visited all the injured Jewish citizens of my country - one by one - in their hospital beds.
Because I could not have discriminated against them. They are all my citizens, the Muslims and the
Jews and everyone else. I am the prime minister of all of them, not only of the Muslims. I was the first
prime minister who ever visited the chief rabbi in the history of Turkey.
How, in your view, can a country protect itself from terrorism?
It is not the problem of only one country. Terrorism is an international phenomenon. We have to
establish a joint plan to fight terrorism. The intelligence agencies of various countries should be in
real cooperation with each other. If a mutual platform to fight terrorism can be established, we can
achieve some results.
But while doing so we must never forget one thing: We have to take on this challenge, fight this
struggle, within the framework of human rights and the supremacy of the law. Saying `I am the strong
one, so I can name anyone I want as a terrorist and anyone I want as a criminal and just kill them
and go' - that mentality is wrong.
We have to be in solidarity if we want to serve global peace. We have to go hand in hand;
humanity does not want to see anymore bloodshed or death. All those responsible [for the
bloodshed] are losing their credibility with every passing day. You must have followed at least as
much as I did what kind of reactions the pictures of the abuse in Abu Ghraib prison received...
I would like to send 'Shalom' to all the citizens of Israel, especially the ones who have emigrated
from Turkey. |
