Turkey rearranges geopolitical map of Mideast

Turkey’s foreign policy shift is now in full gear. Having kicked out the Israeli ambassador and rejected the UN Palmer Report, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says that Turkey plans to take its case against Israel’s blockade of Gaza to the International Court of Justice, not alone, but with the support of the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the African Union. “The process will probably reach a certain point in October and we will make our application.”

Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey speaks at the 66th United Nations General Assembly in the UN building in New York City on September 22, 2011.

Israel’s refusal to say “I apologize” has already proved to be very expensive, and will continue to reverberate, not just in the hallowed halls of the ICC, but off the shores of Israel itself, as Turkish warships accompany flotillas breaking the siege, and when Turkey begins drilling for gas in waters that Greek Cyprus and Israel claim for themselves. It will echo when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who U.S. International Trade Undersecretary Francisco Sanchez said was “like a rock star,” crosses the Rafah border to visit Gaza. No one can mistake Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias for Elton John.

There are many reasons for the deterioration of the once smooth relations between Israel and Turkey. Firstly both nations have moved away from their secular roots — Turkey with the return of Islam as a guiding principle in political life under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2002, Israel with the rise of Likud in 1977 ending the long reign of Labour. Turkey is naturally returning to its traditional role under the Ottoman Caliphate as regional Muslim hegemon, while the Zionized version of Judaism has ended any pretense of the Jewish state being interested in making peace with the indigenous Muslims.

Israel’s relations with both Cyprus and brotherly Greece — both longstanding foes of Turkey — have warmed up considerably since Israel killed nine Turks last year and Turkish-Israeli relations plunged. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman became the first such Israeli official to visit Cyprus last September. Their Foreign Affairs people have been meeting regularly since, as it becomes clear that Israel is using Cyprus as its proxy in gas and oil exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.

While no one was looking, Greek Cyprus began exploring for gas off the coast. The project by the Texas-based Noble Energy prompted Erdogan and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) President Dervis Eroglu to hurriedly sign an agreement last week on delineation of the continental shelf, while the leaders were attending the United Nations General Assembly meetings. Ankara announced Turkish Petroleum Corporation has commissioned a Norwegian oil and gas firm to set up its own oil and gas exploration rig nearby — accompanied by a warship. In Nicosia, Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Irsen Kucuk vowed “to make every effort and show every kind of resistance to protect our rights and interests.”

With the announcement of the exploration project, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz suggested the risks for Nobel are considerable. “I do not think they will undertake such a work in such a risky area, from a technical and a feasibility point of view.” Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said Turkey’s plans were “no bluff.” The U.S. Israel lobby’s Richard Stone called Turkey’s actions “a reason for war.”

The new friendship between Greece, Cyprus and Israel is a major headache for Turkey, but — apart from possibly leading to war — also has other drawbacks for the Greeks, their Cypriot cousins and the EU as a whole. The gas and oil drilling will put paid to the long-suffering attempt under UN auspices to reunite the island. Greek Cyprus has been divided since a Turkish intervention in 1974 triggered by a Greek-inspired coup. UN-sponsored peace talks between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots have stumbled since they were relaunched in 2008.

Davutoglu warned UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York last week that the Greek Cypriot drilling plan will doom the island to permanent division. “If they claim they have their own area where they can do whatever they want, then, by implication, they accept that Northern Cyprus has its own area as well. This is a shift to a two-state mentality.” In the latest move, the KKTC president proposed to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon this week that there be a mutual freeze in drilling or at least a joint committee to resolve the dispute. The Cypriot leaders will have a tripartite meeting with Ban in New York at the end of October.

Hopes for Turkey’s accession to the EU are also dashed. Referring to Cyprus taking on the rotating presidency of the EU next summer, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said, “If the negotiations [on Cyprus] do not end positively and the EU hands over the presidency to southern Cyprus, we will freeze our relations with the EU”.  Click HERE TO CONTINUE

Turkey to take Israel to UN court over Gaza blockade following Israel’s refusal to apologize for flotilla raid

Israel’s deputy foreign minister observed that Turkey seems to want to raise tensions for its own reasons. Indeed, relations have deteriorated to a point where it will be difficult ever to trust Turkey as an ally again — it is rather more of a “frenemy,” at best. More on the Tantrum in Turkey. “Gaza flotilla: Turkey to take Israel to UN court,” from BBC News, September 3:

Turkey has said it will challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

It is the latest sign of strain between the countries since last year’s Israeli action against ships heading for Gaza, in which nine Turks were killed.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu said Turkey did not accept the findings of a UN report which said Israel’s blockade of Gaza was a legal security measure.

His comments came a day after Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador.

It also halted military co-operation with Israel.

Report ‘not endorsed’

Speaking on state-run Turkish TV, Mr Davutoglu said the UN report, prepared by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, had not been endorsed by the UN and was therefore not binding.

“What is binding is the ICJ,” he went on. “This is what we are saying: let the ICJ decide.”

Turkey, he added, would start the necessary legal procedures in the coming week.

Based in The Hague, the ICJ is a permanent UN court set up to rule on state-to-state disputes.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon insisted his country had nothing to apologise for and had done all it could to avoid a crisis with Turkey.

He said the Turks seemed to want to raise tensions with Israel for its own reasons.

They were not ready for a compromise and kept raising the threshold,” Mr Ayalon said on Israeli TV….

Yasser Arafat would be so proud.

Posted by Marisol on September 3, 2011 7:07 PM

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