Israeli-Zionist Arrogance: Deputy FM Humiliates the Turkish Ambassador, then Apologizes Under Turkish Threat

Israeli-Zionist Arrogance:

Deputy FM Humiliates the Turkish Ambassador,

then Apologizes Under Turkish Threat

Israel Apologizes To Turkey After Insulting Its Ambassador

Thursday January 14, 2010 00:26 by Saed Bannoura - 1 of IMEMC News Editorial Group

The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued on Wednesday an official apology to Turkey and its ambassador after Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister, Danni Ayalon, insulted him over a Turkish TV Show depicting Israeli agents operating in Ankara.

The Ministry added that Israel filed a clear apology to the Turkish government and to ambassador, Oguz Celikko, after Turkey decided to recall its ambassador.

The Israeli apology was made by the office of Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel’s President, Shimon Peres.

It came shortly after some Israeli officials said that Israel will not apologize to Turkey, and that the apology issued by Israel’s deputy Foreign Minister, Danni Ayalon, is sufficient. Turkey did not accept the apology of Ayalon as it fell short from what was expected.

Netanyahu said that he hopes the official apology would restore the Turkish-Israeli diplomatic relations, and added that Israel has the right to object to “Turkish media insults”, but the objection was improper.

On Tuesday at night, Ayalon said that he did not mean to disrespect the Turkish Ambassador, and that in the future he would use a more diplomatically acceptable manner to voice such objections.

But Ayalon never said “sorry” and did not make any direct apology. This issue pushed Turkey to declare its withdrawing its ambassador by the end of the day on Wednesday should Israel refrain from issuing an official, stringer apology.

Ayalon initially summoned the Turkish Ambassador to complain about a popular Turkish TV show, Valley of the Wolves,” reportedly displaying Israeli agents kidnapping Turkish children. On his twitter feed, Ayalon said that the show proves that “anti-Israelism is just another form of anti-Semitism”.

Ayalon made the Turkish ambassador sit on a Sofa lower than his chair, and did not display any Turkish flags next to the flag of Israel.

He issued a second apology on Wednesday addressing the Turkish Ambassador and telling him that he did not intend to humiliate him personally, and that he apologizes for the way he handled the issue.

Ayalon also asked the ambassador to convey the apology to the Turkish government and people.

Israeli Deputy FM sends apology letter to Turkey

JERUSALEM, Jan. 13, 2010 (Xinhua) --

In an effort to end the recent diplomatic row between Israel and Turkey, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon sent an apology letter Wednesday evening to Ankara's ambassador in Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol, over his improper behavior during the two persons' meeting on Monday.

"I had no intention to humiliate you personally and apologize for the way the demarche was handled and perceived. Please convey this to the Turkish people for whom we have great respect," local news service Ynet quoted Ayalon as writing in the letter.

The letter is expected to be passed to Ankara by the Turkish ambassador.

Shortly earlier, Israeli Prime Minister's Office issued a statement, confirming Ayalon's apology letter.

The letter was coordinated with the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Foreign Minister Avidgor Lieberman, the statement said, adding that Israel "hopes this brings the issue to an end."

However, the statement noted that Netanyahu backed the protest Ayalon has made during his meeting with Celikkol.

Ayalon called Celikkol to a parliament office on Monday, to express Israeli discontentment over a recent Turkish TV drama which portrays Israeli intelligence agent as baby-kidnaper. Duringthe meeting, Ayalon was caught by camera to urge the photographers to pay attention that he and his assistants were sitting in higher chairs than the Turkish ambassador, which is widely seen as an intentional humiliation to the Turkish ambassador.

The Deputy Foreign Minister issued a short statement Tuesday night, saying "in the future I will clarify my position in a diplomatically acceptable manner." But Ayalon insisted in the statement that his protest "remains valid."

The seeming apology statement did not appease the fumes of Ankara. Turkish President Abdullah Gul said earlier Wednesday that Turkey will recall its ambassador to Israel if the Zionist state does not issue an official apology.

"If they don't make up for us by this evening, the ambassador will return on the first flight tomorrow," Gul was quoted as saying by the semi-official Anatolia news agency.

The recent diplomatic row added a new weight on the already-strained bilateral relations due to Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter. The Turkish government strongly condemned the offensive, and Turkish military in October banned Israeli air force to join a planned international air force exercise in Turkey reportedly due to Ankara's opposition to Israeli operation in Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is scheduled to travel to Ankara next week as another effort of amending the relations, which had been on the up and up for more than a decade before the Gaza conflict.

Editor: yan

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.