Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a total freeze on military and trade ties with Israel and threatened on Tuesday to visit Gaza as the one-time allies’ diplomatic spat intensified, The Daily Star newspaper reported.
Only hours after Israel said the continued presence of its defence attache at the embassy in Ankara indicated there was no definitive break with Turkey, Prime Minister Erdogan declared a suspension to all military and commercial relations, the newspaper reported.
Despite pleas from top diplomats to end their row over last year’s attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, the Turk prime minister risked causing further offence by berating Israel for behaving like a spoiled child. Last week, Turkey announced that Israeli Ambassador Gaby Levy was being expelled and all bilateral military agreements were suspended as it angrily rejected findings of a UN probe into the deadly flotilla raid.
“We are totally suspending our trade, military, defence industry relations,” Prime Minister Erdogan told reporters in his first official reaction since that announcement. “Further sanctions against Israel would follow,” he said. Once Israel’s closest friend in the Muslim world, Turkey has been increasingly critical of the Jewish state since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002.
There was widespread outrage in May last year when eight Turkish nationals and an American of Turkish descent died on the Mavi Marmara, the lead ship of the six-vessel convoy taking aid to the Palestinian territory of Gaza, in a raid by Israeli forces in international waters.
Unlike other European countries, Turkey has refused to blacklist the Hamas who are rulers of Gaza and Erdogan said he may pay a visit to Gaza, entering via neighbouring Egypt. “We are talking with the Egyptians on this matter … A trip to Gaza is not finalised yet,” said Erdogan, who is due to visit Egypt next week. Such a visit would be bound to infuriate Israel but Erdogan seemed in no mood for diplomacy.
Earlier in the day, a senior Israeli defence official had sounded a warning to Turkey while saying that the military attache would remain in place in the Ankara mission. “There’s no break with Turkey: the proof is that our military attache in Ankara will remain in his office and that consular services there will continue to function,” Amos Gilad told Israeli public radio.
The Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry also said that 40 of its nationals were held for an hour and a half for questioning at Ataturk International Airport on Monday before they were released.
