Turkey is threatening unspecified intervention if Israel again uses military action to prevent a flotilla, organized in part by Turkish Islamist groups, from reaching Gaza. Via AFP:
Turkey on Saturday warned Israel against another act of bloodshed in international waters after activists announced plans to send a new aid flotilla to the blockaded Gaza Strip.
“It should be known that Turkey will give the necessary response to any repeated act of provocation by Israel on the high seas,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in an interview on NTV television.
“Those who believe Turkey should take certain steps to stop (the new flotilla) must first warn Israel not to repeat the human tragedy it caused last year,” he said.
On May 31 last year, Israeli marines swarmed aboard the Turkish flagship of an international aid flotilla bound for Gaza, killing nine Turks in international waters and plunging ties with Ankara into deep crisis.
The Istanbul-based Islamist charity which had spearheaded the mission said Friday that a new convoy of ships would sail to Gaza in the last week of June.
Around 1,500 activists from more than 100 countries will take part in the convoy, organised by 22 civic groups, it said.
Turkey seems to be in a mood to make threats lately.
As I reported on Monday, Turkey also is threatening to scuttle a U.N. Report on the May 2010 flotilla because the initial draft found that Israel had a right to act in international waters against the flotilla (although the draft criticized Israel for using excessive force).
This all is just a continuation of the downward spiral in Turkey’s conduct in the region, from a force for stability to a force for provocation.
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Comments
If trying to impose defeat on Israel by international fiat is the way this is going, we might as well have that war now. That's why wars happen. Aggressive, provocative "diplomacy" does not lead to peace.
The Topkapı Palace has been empty for quite a while now maybe they have their eye on it for the new caliph.
Do these Turkish Islamist groups have the word "Priorities" in their vocabulary?
How about an air-drop of aid to the thousands of muslims being shot in the streets in Syria?
Couldn't whoever is supplying Hamas with thousands and thousands of rockets (they don't come cheap), instead send this humanitarian aid we're supposed to believe is so needed?
Priorities. Maybe these Islamists are just like Dickens's Mrs. Jellyby.
"Mrs. Jellyby was the ditzy do-gooder who practiced 'telescopic philanthropy.' Her children were neglected and London's poor went unnoticed outside her window because her gaze was fixed on the suffering natives of Borrioboola-Gha. She had, Dickens wrote, handsome eyes but 'they could see nothing nearer than Africa.'"
Hah! If only that were the case !!!
We could just let Israel sink 'em as they show up.
Thanks, Professor, for this post.
Dearest Turks:
Just say, "No" to aggression (Thank you Nancy Reagan). Instead please stay home and write a big check to the European Union to help out your neighbors, the Greeks. THAT will get some attention. Sending Turkish sailors to their death in the Mediterranean is unlikely to earn the asterisk or footnote to history so many desire.
Yours in charity,
Dave
P.S. Dear Secretary Clinton, If this in any way shape or form has infringed on the scope of your authority to conduct U.S. foreign policy I apologize and disavow the above suggestion.
DM
The reason that there's no peace in the Mid East is Islam.
Many Americans know this, being joined daily by even more as knowledge of Islam and Muslim practices become more widely known despite the best efforts of the MSM to keep the lid on this knowledge. Growing numbers of Europeans know this.
Above all Bibi knows this. Most Israelis know this.
Why then do leaders, Bibi (who is a real leader) among them, not talk of this real reason to peace in the Mid East? Why don't we hear Israeli leaders cite chapter and verse of Islam's core documents as part of its (Israel's) information campaign to the unaware world?
The Muslims do NOT want peace. They want Israel annihilated. With Muslims, there is NO compromise.
Any thoughts why this is not done? It strikes me that the dissemination of this information on Islam would be a winning tactic for Israel.
While the left decries the plight of the Gazans, according to them the result of Israeli cruelty, no one has ever explained to me why relief cannot be supplied to the Gazans via land through the Egyptian border. Why does Egypt now allow supplies to pass across the land border of Egypt/Gaza Strip?
But let's dispel the meme of a starving, doing without Gaza Strip. Take a good look at these photos, some of the new shopping mall that opened last year in Gaza, an envy of any American city.
http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/001127.html
In response to @gspencer: Have you heard of Theo van Gogh – murdered for making the movie, Submission (which is "Islam" translated), a film critical of Islam?
Or have you heard of Geert Wilders? He is a Dutch politician who has been crying into the wilderness of his country – and all of Europe – about Islam and the stealth invasion they have nearly (?) achieved.
He is (was?) on trial by the EU for "hate crimes" because of his attempt to tell the world what Islam is doing to Europe; in particular, he made a short movie called Fitna which is banned from YouTube (unless you tell them you are watching it), but is available on jihadwatch.com.
The film was scheduled to be shown in Parlaiment, but was banned from viewing in London; Wilders was barred from entering the UK because his presence "might offend people and incite them." Religion of peace – bull!
Check this link if you wish to watch it. Islam and Fascist Muslims are the problem, indeed.
That's why no one will disseminate the information. Or, if they do try, death, death threats to family, nightmare life, loss of freedom. Submission, or die = Islam.
Also, there are several articles Mark Levin has been linking to which outline why there is no peace in the Middle East. Check out his website: marklevinshow.com or his Facebook page to access them. Well worth your time to learn more about this topic.
Of course, our illustrious Professor Jacobson has been enlightening us, too! Check out his previous blog posts for more illumination.
Maybe Jordan, Turkey, et al, ought to show us the much cited compassion and charity of islam by adopting these poor souls within their own borders. Give them food and homes, citizenship and the right to work. I wonder why that doesn't happen?/sarc
Also – to @dmurray: The day the Turks give ANYTHING to the Greeks is the day that the Lord returns (which is obviously NOT today!). Ever heard of Cyprus? Cyprus, it's more than a Mediterranean island to these two countries.
There is a simple reason that this is happening: the Turks, along with the other Islamist countries in the Middle East, are trying to provoke Israel into a war.
Israel, tiny Israel, has no one standing with her right now. Obama made that clear this week. Read this and this to learn more. This is all too sickeningly predictable.
Pray for Israel. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. The Lord provided a miracle when the "Six-Day War" happened in 1967 and Israel defeated her enemies, taking on Goliath-sized enemies from every side.
Pray.
But yet..
F-35 fighter engine factory foundation laid in Turkey
Why are we still doing this..?
This is profound:
"Rivers of tears are flowing from the Middle East, where there is only one safe haven for Christians. You know where that is. The only place in the Middle East where Christians are safe is Israel.
That is why Israel deserves our support. Israel is a safe haven for everyone, whatever their belief and opinions. Israel is a beacon of light in a region of total darkness. Israel is fighting our fight.
The jihad against Israel is a jihad against all of us. If Israel falls, we, too, will feel the consequences. If Jerusalem falls, Athens, Rome, Amsterdam and Nashville will fall. Therefore, we all are Israel."
Spoken by Geert Wilders, in a church in Tennessee earlier this month. To read the blog post and more excerpts of his speech go to: News Real Blog , David Horowitz's site. Quite moving. Very real.
We are ALL Israel. We must stand with her.
I wonder if the moronic Islamists in Turkey were motivated by the stupid moves of POTUS Obungler. The Turks have been stupid in the past and are rabid nationalists. Just like the dogs that they despise so much, they bark a lot and should be kicked out of NATO. The US saw what kind of "ally" this race of mutts and backstabbers is in 2003, when US forces were denied access by a so-called "democratic" parliament.
I am very happy the EU is smart enough to deny these international bandits and terrorists membership in the EU.
IMHO, the response to the next "peace flotilla" with "peace activists" armed to the teeth, should be to torpedo the bastards from a mile away.
When someone is using incremental violence, relying on the other side's civility, the only way to stop this "creeping terrorism" is with immediate and overwhelming violence. Force them to expose their hand and either negotiate peacefully – or have an all-out conflict – but remove their ability to harm you yet hide behind the cloak of public opinion.