As most experts expected, "diplomacy of fire", that is to say, attempts at reconciliation between Turkey and Israel by sending consecutive Turkey two airplanes "Canadair" to help the fight against the fire, which has recently devastated the region of Haifa, did not last long ... (see our issue of December 7, 2010). On 25 December, the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmet Davutoglu, said that his country still wanted to reconcile with Israel, but he recalled that for this to happen, it was that Israel apologizes to Turkey and compensate victims of the arrest of Mavi Marmara; a way to understand that the last round of negotiations between the two countries n had not been very conclusive.
The head of Turkish diplomacy has attributed this failure to internal divisions within the Israeli government coalition. "There is in this coalition rivalry even more ferocious than those that may exist with certain states." He said. A bit sarcastic, he explained that the Turkish government, for its part, had needed only two minutes to decide to send its "Canadair" in Haifa, where such a decision would, he said, required lengthy negotiations between the various partners in the coalition government of Israel, likely lead to a failure.
Since the arrest of Mavi Marmara May 31 last, and the death of nine Turkish humanitarian activists, several attempts to restore the Turkish-Israeli relations have occurred, including two sessions of confidential negotiations. The first was held in Brussels, and saw the Israeli Minister of Industry Labor, Binyamin Ben Eliezer (known for its sympathy towards Turkey) meet with the foreign minister of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoğlu. The second, following the dispatch of two "Canadair", and a telephone discussion of government leaders from both countries took place recently in Geneva between the senior diplomats. Both initiatives, initially secret, was hampered due to leaks orchestrated by the Israeli opponents of such a reconciliation process, in particular, the foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, himself. The latter, moreover, affirmed December 26 last, in the wake of recent statements by his Turkish counterpart, the day before, Israel does not apologize, and in fact, "the one who should apologize" was "the Turkish government for its support for terrorism."
The prospect of Turkish-Israeli reconciliation is in fact more than ever hypothetical. Turkish side, in fact, the Mavi Marmara returned to Istanbul, December 26, after several months of repair. He was greeted by thousands of people flying Turkish flags and Palestinian (photo), and joined at the initiative of the humanitarian organization Islamic HHI, one of the main organizers of the fleet "Free Palestine" in May. IHH officials announced on this occasion, a new fleet tried to travel to Gaza on May 31, one year to the day after the arrest of the murderer Mavi Marmara.
The Turkish government seems to welcome this initiative with caution. He did not send representatives to the event, which hosted the Mavi Marmara in Istanbul yesterday, because it is likely that he does not want to be open to accusations of the Israeli government, which accuses him of having manipulated the case fleet in May. Moreover, we must see that the spectrum of Islamic humanitarian organizations engaged in the operations of solidarity for Gaza, has a fringe of Islamist radicals, with which the AKP does not appear clearly wants. We remember also that in the case of the fleet "Free Palestine", and after the dramatic arrest Mavi Marmara, shades had emerged within the Turkish government in the assessment of the facts. Some ministers had indeed followed the views of Fethullah Gulen who, while condemning violence intervention Israeli commando, had found the reckless conduct of the organization HHI.
Before the return of Mavi Marmara in Istanbul, during its passage through the Dardanelles, the incidents took place between the port authorities of Canakkale to radical militants who wanted to get on the ship, even though his restoration is not completed and it is not technically able to receive passengers. The Turkish government intends to show that he retains control of the situation and not allow itself to be overwhelmed by the more radical activists. That does not mean it is ready to reconnect with Israel, especially in the election period ahead (the Parliament will take place in June 2011). Last Saturday, Ahmet Davutoğlu no way failed to point out that Turks had killed nine "international waters" and that nobody could "ignore this truth."
JM
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