NOVANEWS
Panic, Outrage as Iran Notes Ability to Mine Uranium
Ability to Extract Ore From Ground Spun as Huge Advancement
by Jason Ditz,
www.antiwar.com
Media outlets the world over are spinning as gravely troubling the news of a major “advancement” in Iran’s nuclear program. The advancement, which involves the extraction of ore from the earth, is known commonly as “mining.”
Extracting ore from the earth has been a popular human pastime for millenia
US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said the announcement of the development of mining raised “further questions” about the true intentions of Iran’s nuclear program. Other officials predicted the issue of “mining” would be raised at the upcoming Geneva summit.
Yet it is unclear how revolutionary this advancement is, technologically. Though Iran has not developed the practice of mining on as large a scale as some other nations, mining of ore in one form or another has been ongoing in Iranian territory for many thousands of years. Yet it is only recently that the practice has come under international scrutiny.
With regards to unenriched uranium, which is by definition the only kind that can be produced by the process of mining, the Iranian government bought massive quantities of the unenriched uranium in the 1970s, when they were an ally of the United States. As the US has since pressed a ban on providing new unenriched uranium to Iran, the Iranians have been seeking domestic sources, particularly as reports persist that much of their stockpile has already been enriched to the low levels needed for energy generation.
Poll shows majority of Muslims want Islam in politics; feelings mixed on Hamas, Hezbollah
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. An American diplomatic assessment says the Sunni state is alarmed at Shia political ascendency in Iraq. Photograph: Rabih Moghrabi/AFP/Getty Images
Iraqi government officials see Saudi Arabia, not Iran, as the biggest threat to the integrity and cohesion of their fledgling democratic state, leaked US state department cables reveal.
The Iraqi concerns, analysed in a dispatch sent from the US embassy in Baghdad by then ambassador Christopher Hill in September 2009, represent a fundamental divergence from the American and British view of Iran as arch-predator inIraq.
“Iraq views relations with Saudi Arabia as among its most challenging given Riyadh’s money, deeply ingrained anti-Shia attitudes and [Saudi] suspicions that a Shia-led Iraq will inevitably further Iranian regional influence,” Hill writes.
“Iraqi contacts assess that the Saudi goal (and that of most other Sunni Arab states, to varying degrees) is to enhance Sunni influence, dilute Shia dominance and promote the formation of a weak and fractured Iraqi government.”
Hill’s unexpected assessment flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that Iranian activities, overt and covert, are the biggest obstacle to Iraq’s development.
It feeds claims, prevalent after the 9/11 attacks, that religiously conservative, politically repressive Saudi Arabia, where most of the 9/11 terrorists came from, is the true enemy of the west.
Hill’s analysis has sharp contemporary relevance as rival Shia and Sunni political blocs, backed by Iran and the Saudis respectively, continue to squabble over the formation of a new government in Baghdad, seven months after March’s inconclusive national elections.
Hill says Iraqi leaders are careful to avoid harsh criticism of Saudi Arabia’s role for fear of offending the Americans, Riyadh’s close allies. But resentments simmer below the surface.
“Iraqi officials note that periodic anti-Shia outbursts from Saudi religious figures are often allowed to circulate without sanction or disavowal from the Saudi leadership. This reality reinforces the Iraqi view that the Saudi state religion of Wahhabi Sunni Islam condones religious incitement against Shia.”
Hill reports the Saudis have used considerable financial and media resources to support Sunni political aspirations, exert influence over Sunni tribal groups, and undercut the Shia Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) and Iraqi National Alliance.
Hill adds that some Iraqi observers see Saudi aims as positively malign. “A recent Iraqi press article quoted anonymous Iraqi intelligence sources assessing that Saudi Arabia was leading a Gulf effort to destabilise the Maliki government and was financing ‘the current al-Qaida offensive in Iraq’.”
Hill and his Iraqi interlocutors are not alone in their suspicions of Saudi policy. At a meeting in Ankara in February this year a senior Turkish foreign ministry official, Feridun Sinirlioglu, told an American envoy that “Saudi Arabia is ‘throwing around money’ among the political parties in Iraq because it is unwilling to accept the inevitability of Shia dominance there”.
Returning to more familiar ground, Hill asserts that Iranian efforts in Iraq are also “driven by a clear determination to see a sectarian, Shia-dominated government that is weak, disenfranchised from its Arab neighbours, detached from the US security apparatus and strategically dependent on Iran”. Such an outcome is not in the interests of the US, he notes drily.
But he passes on to Washington the arguments of Iraqi officials who say they know how to “manage” Iran. “Shia contacts … do not dismiss the significant Iranian influence but argue that it is best countered by Iraqi Shia politicians who know how to deal with Iran.” These officials also maintain Iranian interference “is not aimed, unlike that of some Sunni neighbours, at fomenting terrorism that would destabilise the government”. They predict Tehran’s meddling will “naturally create nationalistic Iraqi resistance to it, both Shia and more broadly, if others do not intervene”.
The difficulties encountered by Iranian-backed Shia parties in coming together to form a new government, despite much urging from Tehran and the co-opting of the hardline Iran-based cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, could be seen as evidence that Iran’s overall influence has been exaggerated and that public “resistance” to Iran’s role is indeed growing.
All the same, American officials continue to blame Iran principally for instigating and fomenting much of the sectarian and insurgent violence that has disfigured Iraq since the 2003 invasion. James Jeffrey, Hill’s successor as US ambassador, claimed in August that about one-quarter of all US casualties in Iraq were caused by armed groups backed by Iran.
A Baghdad embassy cable from November 2009 says Iran continues to view Iraq as “a vital foreign policy priority for theIranian government’s efforts to project its ideology and influence in the region“. At the head of this effort, it says, is the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods (Jerusalem) Force, or IRGC-QF, led by Brigadier-General Qasem Soleimani, whose authority is “second only to supreme leader [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei”.
Soleimani has close ties with prominent Iraqi government officials, including the president, Jalal Talibani, and prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, the cable reports. “Khamenei, President [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, Speaker [Ali] Larijani and former president [Ayatollah Akhbar Hashemi] Rafsanjani consult regularly with visiting GOI [government of Iraq] officials as part of the IRIG’s [Islamic Republic of Iran government] broader ‘strategic’ council of advisers seeking to influence the GOI.”
The cable continues that Iran’s tools of influence include financial support to and pressure on a cross-spectrum of Iraqi parties and officials; economic development assistance, notably to religious organisations; lethal aid to selected militant Shia proxies; and sanctuary to Iraqi figures fearful of US government targeting, or those seeking to revitalise their political-religious credentials, most notably Moqtada al-Sadr.
“This leverage also extends, to a lesser extent, to select Sunni actors, including such public figures as Iraqi speaker [Iyad al-] Samarra’i, whose September visit to Tehran included meetings with several senior IRIG officials.”
The cable comments that Iran is watching the US troop withdrawal schedule closely as it tries to make permanent its “strategic foothold”. All US troops are expected to leave Iraq by the end of next year. But the cable’s American author also injects some welcome historical perspective.
“Iran will continue to flex its muscles to ensure its strategic outcomes are met. This should not lead to alarmist tendencies or reactions on our part. The next Iraqi government will continue to cultivate close ties with Iran, given longstanding historical realities that precede Iraq’s ties with the United States.
“On the other hand Iran’s influence should not be overestimated. As the GOI continues to gain its footing, points of divergence between Tehran and Baghdad become increasingly evident on such sensitive bilateral issue as water, hydrocarbons, maritime borders and political parity. Some prominent Iraqi leaders, including those with ties to Iran, are increasingly sensitive to being labelled Iranian lackeys.”
A visit last December by US diplomats to the Iraqi holy city of Najaf, the “epicentre of Shia Islam”, finds further evidence of Iraqi public resentment of foreign meddling from whatever quarter. One local leader “singled out Saudi Arabia and Iran as the biggest culprits but noted that a ‘mental revolution’ was under way among Iraqi youth against foreign agendas seeking to undermine the country’s stability”.
Iraqi sources also tell the visiting Americans that the Iranian government and the IRGC cannot match the “social and political clout” that Iraq’s Shia establishment, led by the Shia world’s most senior cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, wields among the ordinary citizens of both Iraq and Iran.
Sistani, it is noted, rejects the fundamental tenet of Iranian clerical rule – the unchallengeable “custodianship of the jurist” adopted by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to justify his de facto dictatorship. Seen this way the entire Iranian Islamic revolution is illegitimate.
Cable: EU President Told US Afghan War “Unwinnable”
Told US Envoy Troops Are Only Staying ‘Out of Deference’ to the US
by Jason Ditz,
www.antiwar.com
A newly released WikiLeaks cable describing a late 2009 meeting with European Union President Van Rompuy had the EU chief warning that “no one believes in Afghanistan any more.”
President Van Rompuy
Van Rompuy, whose comments came in the wake of President Obama’s December escalation announcement, said the European nations in NATO were only going along with the war out of deference to the United States and added that by the end of 2010 he thought nations would start to bail out.
Though the comments point to a general pessimism about the Afghan War (even ahead of the record 2010 death toll) Van Rompuy’s prognostication leaves something to be desired, as a Lisbon Summit last month secured the continuation of the war in Afghanistan through at least 2014, though again, comments suggested few actually believe the war will be won even then.
Van Rompuy also predicted his native Belgium would leave if they had a single combat death. So far there have been no Belgian combat deaths, with the only Belgian soldier who died in Afghanistan having died of meningitis.
A majority of Muslims around the world welcome a significant role for Islam in their countries’ political life, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center, but have mixed feelings toward militant religious groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
According to the survey, majorities in Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan and Nigeria would favor changing the current laws to allow stoning as a punishment for adultery, hand amputation for theft and death for those who convert from Islam to another religion. About 85% of Pakistani Muslims said they would support a law segregating men and women in the workplace.
Indonesia, Egypt, Nigeria and Jordan were among the most enthusiastic, with more than three-quarters of Muslims polled in those countries reporting positive views of Islam’s influence in politics: either that Islam had a large role in politics, and that was a good thing, or that it played a small role, and that was bad.
Turkish Muslims were the most conflicted, with just more than half reporting positive views of Islam’s influence in politics. Turkey has struggled in recent years to balance a secular political system with an increasingly fervent Muslim population.
Many Muslims described an ongoing struggle in their country between fundamentalists and modernizers, especially those who may have felt threatened by the rising tides of conservatism. Among those respondents who identified a struggle, most tended to side with the modernizers. This was especially true in Lebanon and Turkey, where 84% and 74%, respectively, identified themselves as modernizers as opposed to fundamentalists.
In Egypt and Nigeria, however, most people were pulling in the other direction. According to the poll, 59% in Egypt and 58% in Nigeria who said there was a struggle identified with the fundamentalists.
Despite an overall positive view of Islam’s growing role in politics, militant religious organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah spurred mixed reactions. Both groups enjoyed fairly strong support in Jordan, home to many Palestinians, and Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based. Muslim countries that do not share strong cultural, historical and political ties to the Palestinian cause, such as Pakistan and Turkey, tended to view Hezbollah and Hamas negatively.
Al Qaeda was starkly rejected by majorities in every Muslim country except Nigeria, which gave the group a 49% approval rating.
WikiLeaks cables: Saudi Arabia rated a bigger threat to Iraqi stability than Iran
Baghdad says it can contain influence of Shia neighbour, unlike powerful Gulf state that wants a return to Sunni dominance
Lebanese Newspaper Publishes U.S. Cables Not Found on WikiLeaks
(theatlantic.com) Nearly 200 previously unreported U.S. diplomatic cables were posted on Thursday to the website of Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar. The cables, from eight U.S. embassies across the Middle East and North Africa, have not appeared on Wikileaks’ official website or in the Western media outlets working with Wikileaks. Al Akhbar, which defines itself as an “opposition” newspaper, is published in Arabic. It has posted all 183 cables in their original English but promises readers a forthcoming Arabic translation.
It’s unclear how Al Akhbar got the cables, which they say are “exclusive,” and whether they posted them with the permission of Wikileaks, which has tightly controlled who publishes which of its cables and when. Wikileaks offered a handful of media outlets, such as The Guardian and Spain’s El Pais, advance access to some cables on the condition that they coordinate release. But neither Wikileaks nor those media outlets have released the same cables posted by Al Akhbar. If Al Akhbar had coordinated their release with Wikileaks, it stands to reason that the Lebanese publication would have been granted sufficient advance time to translate the cables to Arabic.
The documents appear to be authentic as the cables from Tripoli match up with The Atlantic’s background reporting for an earlier story on a 2009 Libyan nuclear crisis, some details of which The Atlantic did not publish but nonetheless appear in Al Akhbar’s cables. The rest of the cables are from U.S. embassies in Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. They portray U.S. diplomats as struggling to understand and influence the region’s oppressive and sometimes unpredictable regime.
One series of cables from Baghdad reports that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki replaced hundreds of his most experienced intelligence and security officials with under-qualified “political officers” in advance of the 2010 Iraq elections.
Another series from Beirut in 2008 shows Lebanese Defense Minister Elias al-Murr telling U.S. diplomats, in a message he implied they should pass on to Israeli officials, that the Lebanese military would not resist an Israeli invasion so long as the Israeli forces abided by certain conditions. Murr, apparently hoping that an Israeli invasion would destroy much of the Hezbollah insurgency and the communities in Lebanon’s south that support it, promised an Israeli invasion would go unchallenged as long as it did not pass certain physical boundaries and did not bomb Christian communities. A U.S. embassy official wrote, “Murr is trying to ascertain how long an offensive would be required to clean out Hizballah in the Beka’a.” Murr added that he had discussed the plan with then-Military Commandant Michel Sleiman, who has since become the President of Lebanon. The small but vibrant community of Middle East-based, English-language Arab bloggers have expressed outrage at Murr and Sleiman’s apparent invitation, predicting it will bring political disaster and possibly worse.
If Al Akhbar did not receive the cables from Wikileaks, it’s unclear whether the newspaper got them from a leak within Wikileaks or perhaps from a third-party source who wanted to beat Wikileaks’ planned release. But it appears that this is not the only such case of loose documents. Less than a week into Wikileaks’ gradual release of State Department cables, a process it is less than 0.25 percent through, the shadowy radical-transparency group seems to have lost control of its cables. Foreign Policy’s Josh Rogin reported on Wednesday:
One Washington lobbyist who represents countries in the Middle East said that local press in several countries he works on is reporting on cables that haven’t yet been reported on by the media outlets who had advance access to the documents. The lobbyist speculated that foreign governments may also be selectively leaking cables they’ve come across in order to spin them in their own favor before WikiLeaks or local media has a chance to weigh in.
“New leaked cables are coming from weird sources, think tanks, the countries involved. There’s a lot of stuff being quoted in local press from cables that haven’t been released yet and I have no idea where they are coming from,” this lobbyist said.
It remains to be seen if Al Akhbar will translate the cables for its Arabic readership or even keep them posted online. Much like Wikileaks.org, which has gone down several times since posting the cables and had its hosting pulled at least twice, Al-Akhbar.com has been increasingly difficult to load since it posted the cables. While that could be the result of a spike in traffic, media attention on Al Akhbar’s exclusive cables has been relatively sparse. But, for the moment, you can still view all 183 cables here.
Update: When I asked about the origins of the cables, Al Akhbar executive editor Khaled Saghieh replied, “We are not in a position to disclose information about who we received these documents from, as the source requested strict anonymity. We have reasons to trust this source.” But whoever that source was, the mere fact that he, she, or they requested anonymity suggests it was not Wikileaks. After all, the group has openly disclosed and actively promoted its role in every one of it leaks. When I pointed this out to Saghieh, he refused to confirm or deny Wikileaks’ involvement.
US Eyes Embassy Shake-Ups in Wake of WikiLeaks Shaming
Diplomats’ Dirty Dealings Necessitate Transfers
by Jason Ditz,
www.antiwar.com
After publicly condemning the leader of the nation you’re stationed in or it becomes public knowledge that you’re been spying on an opposition party that is part of the current ruling coalition, how do you remain the US ambassador? The short answer is, you don’t.
With the unseemly comments and behavior of US diplomats the world over slowly unveiled by the WikiLeaks cablegate release, the State Department is said to be planning a massive shake-up of its staff, with large portions of the department needing transfers to places where their reputation will not haunt them.
Officials say the revelation of their most embarrassing moments, and even some of their less than embarrassing moments, has left officials struggling to cope with distrust the world over, and that the truth could take five years of trust-building to undo.
It leaves the State Department in a particularly difficult position as officials the world over are facing the need to be shuffled to places in which they have less experience, and no contacts. Perhaps the bigger problem though is that officials don’t seem to be planning to change their behavior going forward, so it is only their ability to keep their actions secret that will prevent a redo of the shuffling.
Clinton: Saudis World’s Largest Terror Funders
WikiLeaks Cables Bring Renewed Attention to Saudi Terror Funding
by Jason Ditz,
www.antiwar.com
A new flurry of WikiLeaks cables may prove embarrassing to Saudi Arabia, as the documents show US allegations that the nation is the “world’s largest source” for funding to al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other Sunni terror groups.
The new documents include a December 2009 memo signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging diplomats to press Saudi Arabia on the funding efforts, despite other documents praising the Saudi government as a “key partner” is stopping such funding.
US officials have expressed concerns about Saudi funding for terror in the past, but the cables provide a more frank assessment of what the US sees as the major problems, primarily the Saudi government’s reluctance to crack down on religious charities.
Other dispatches point to other regional countries, from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to Kuwait as serious problems, but it seems none are as serious a source of funds as Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government has yet to comment on the cables.
Erdogan insists on Israeli apology before ‘page is turned’
Turkish premier stresses again his country’s aid to Israel as it battled Carmel blaze stemmed only from humanitarian motives, Islamic duty
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed Sunday that the aid sent from Turkey to Israelfollowing the Carmel fire disaster does not signify an improvement in relations between the two countries.
However, in an unprecedented statement since May’s flotilla raid the Turksih premier said that “one day we shall turn the page.”
According to a report by Turkish news agency Anatolia Erdogan said that the relationship with Israel will not improve until the Jewish state “cleans” the blood of the victims. He repeated Ankara’s list of demands to Israel before ties can be rebuilt: Compensation to the victims’ families and an official apology.
“One day we shall turn the page but first Israel needs to apologize and provide compensation,” Erdogan said.
He explained his country’s willingness to send aid to Israel at its time of need. “If a hand is reached out we do not ignore it…but we must ensure the hand is being reached in earnest.”
He added: “No one can expect us to sit silent and abandon law and reason while the blood being spilled in the Middle East remains unwashed.” Ergodan stressed that the aid provided to Israel by Turkey was sent out of humanitarian reasons and Islamic duty.
Hours after the Carmel blaze broke out last Thursday Turkey sent Israel two helicopters to help it fight the flames. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Erdogan for Turkey’s assistance as they spoke on the phone and expressed hope that the step will help the nations rebuild their relationship.
However, the Turkish premier was quick to clarify over the weekend that the aid was sent for humanitarian motives only and that it has nothing to do with the diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Dutch politician says West Bank belongs to Israel
Controversial political leader Geert Wilders visiting Tel Aviv, calls for continued settlement building and defensible borders for Israel.
Dutch politician Geert Wilders called on Israel to build more settlements in the West Bank in defiance of international demands for a construction freeze on Sunday.
Wilders stated that building must continue so Israel can create defensible borders — by annexing the West Bank. Wilders is known in the Netherlands and Europe as a staunch critic of Islam and political Islamism.
Wilders also said on Sunday in Tel Aviv that neighboring Jordan should take in Palestinians.
While Wilders doesn’t represent the Dutch government, he leads the Netherlands third most popular party, which supports the ruling coalition.
Larijani urges Muslim cooperation
Speaker Ali Larijani (R) and Indonesia’s Regional Representative Council Irman Gusman
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says Muslim countries can turn global and regional changes to their favor through cooperation and holding talks.
“In the current situation that important changes in the international and regional arenas are taking place, Muslim countries could achieve better status in global equations through consultation, cooperation and negotiations,” Larijani said in a meeting with the speaker of Indonesia’s Regional Representative Council, Irman Gusman, on Sunday.
If we become neglectful, international powers will try to establish neocolonialism in the Muslim world through adopting new policies, Larijani added.
The Iranian lawmaker described issues concerning Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan as the Muslim world’s most important matters and said, “All Muslim have an Islamic duty to help the people of these countries, especially to defend the rights of the innocent people of Palestine,” Mehr News Agency reported.
Larijani blamed the increase of Israel’s oppressive measures against Palestinians, the destruction of Iraq due to occupation, the expansion of terrorism and the raise in the production of narcotics in Afghanistan on the policies of major world powers in the region.
“The Muslim Ummah (community) can alter the course of change in the region and world to its favor by using all its capacities and abilities, and close cooperation and consultation.”
Larijani described the relations between Iran and Indonesia as friendly and said, “The two countries have great capacity for expanding cooperation especially in the economic-industrial sectors.”
Gusman said Iran’s economic and technological progress is a source of pride for the Muslim world.
‘US diplomats run slander campaign’
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
(presstv) Turkey accuses US diplomats of spreading “slander” across the world, stressing that the unreliable information aims at damaging ties among countries.
Alleging to be exposing the United States diplomatic cables, Wikileaks has released thousands of documents, some leveling insult against a number of world statesmen, including Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“The unserious cables of American diplomats, formed from gossip, magazines, allegations and slander are spreading worldwide via the Internet,” Reuters quoted Erdogan as saying on Sunday.
Turkey has been the second country to get most of the mentions in the documents following Iraq.
The releases claim that the respected Turkish leader lacks “vision” and “analytic depth” and reads “minimally.”
“Are there disclosures of state secrets, or is there another aim?…,” the Turkish leader asked.
“Is it carrying out a veiled, dark propaganda? Are there efforts to affect, manipulate relations between certain countries?” he queried.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also expressed doubt about the alleged exposition, saying that the US administration has “released” the material intentionally.
“The material was not leaked, but rather released in an organized way,” he said on Monday in response to a question by a Press TV correspondent.
“The countries in the region are like friends and brothers, and these malicious acts will not affect their relations,” the Iranian president said.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Besir Atalay said on Thursday that Israel, as opposed to others in the Middle East, has benefited from the alleged US documents, AFP reported.
“It seems to us that the country which … is not mentioned much, especially in the Middle East, or which this development seems to favor is Israel,” he said. “This is how we see it in a way when we look in the context of who is benefitting and who is being harmed,” Atalay said.
Zio=Nazi Gestapo abducted 280 Palestinians in November
A Palestinian protester is detained during a demonstration against Israel.
(presstv) Israel’s military has kidnapped 280 Palestinians, including 43 children and three women, in the occupied Palestinian territories in one month, a report says.
The abductions were conducted in several areas in the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem), International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC) reported on Sunday.
Among the abductees was a 55-year-old female, named Shaheera Borqan, who had been spirited away from the city of al-Khalil (Hebron) in the south of the West Bank. The Israeli military kidnapped the victim to pressure her two detained sons, IMEMC added, describing the act as illegal.
The families of around 9,000 Palestinians in Israeli detention have for long been calling on human rights organizations and groups to intervene in order to secure the release of their loved ones, many of whom have been incarcerated without charge, trial and sentence.
There are reportedly hundreds of children and women among the victims. At least 27 of the inmates are as well said to have been kidnapped and jailed more than 25 years ago.
A 45-year-old victim, identified as Abdul-Qader Masalma, who had already spent seven years in jail, was taken away again despite suffering from torture-induced paralysis during previous detention, IMEMC said.
The organization also reported the families of several detainees had come under the military’s attacks, which had injured the wife of one inmate and the mother of another.
Israel occupied East al-Quds in 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognized by the international community.
‘Israel must still apologize to Turkey’
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
(presstv) Turkey has reiterated its position that Israel must apologize and pay compensations over the killing of nine Turkish activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla before Ankara-Tel Aviv relations can improve.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that “no one should expect us to keep silent and forfeit law and justice as long as the blood spilled in the Mediterranean is not cleared,” AFP reported.
Nine Turks died and around 50 other people were injured on May 31, when Tel Aviv ordered the assault on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla relief mission.
The bilateral relations between Turkey and Israel reached their lowest ebb ever following the incident.
The fleet was carrying approximately 750 human rights activists and around 10,000 tons of construction material, medical equipment, and school supplies. The activists were subsequently expelled and the cargos were transferred to the Israeli port of Ashdod in the south of Tel Aviv.
“Some say we should turn a new page… An apology must be offered first, compensation must be paid first,” Erdogan said.
The clarification came following speculations that the strain in the ties had lessened, when Turkey dispatched two helicopters to help Israel douse a devastating forest fire that killed 41 people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly thanked Ankara for the assistance.
The Turkish leader, however, said, “If a hand is extended, we will not leave it in the air… but we want to see that this hand is extended with sincerity.” He described the civil defense assistance for fire control as “our humanitarian and Islamic duty.”
‘Hate monger’ Zio=Nazi Wilders invited to ‘Israel’
