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It Is Time For Israel To Embrace PKK

Turkey Rejects Israeli Criticism Over Hamas

Associated Press

Feb 18, 2006

A visit by the exiled political leader of Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, to the Turkish capital has triggered a new diplomatic rift between US allies Israel and Turkey, two years after the Turkish premier accused Israel of engaging in state terrorism against Palestinians. Turkey yesterday rejected Israeli criticism of the visit of Khaled Mesha'al and said an Israeli spokesman's comparison of the Palestinian group to Kurdish guerrillas in Turkey was an "unfortunate statement."

Mesha'al met Thursday with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, prompting Israel's government spokesman Ra'anan Gissin to condemn the visit in an interview with Turkey's private NTV television. "How would you feel if we got together with Abdullah Ocalan?" Gissin asked NTV, referring to the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdish guerrilla group fighting for autonomy in Turkey's southeast.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry said yesterday that the Israeli spokesman had made "an unfortunate statement." "We think the comparison in this statement is totally baseless and wrong," the ministry said. "We relayed our discomfort and dissatisfaction with this statement to Israel yesterday." The ministry also suggested that the Israeli remarks were prompted by Israeli "domestic political concerns."

Ocalan's rebels have been fighting for autonomy in the largely Kurdish southeast since 1984 in a war which has claimed more than 37,000 lives. Both Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and Hamas are branded as terrorist organizations by the US State Department.

Turkey, which has close ties with both Israel and the Palestinians, has been urging Hamas - which won a landslide victory in legislative elections last month - to reject violence as it assembles a new Palestinian government. The US and the European Union have threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinians unless Hamas - which has called for Israel's destruction and killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings - recognizes Israel and renounces violence. Hamas has given no indication it will change its ideology, but has said it would stick to a long-term cease-fire if Israel reciprocates.

Turkey said Thursday it had urged Mesha'al to meet international expectations and adopt a more conciliatory and flexible attitude. Israel and Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim state, have long had strong military ties and important trade links. But relations grew strained in 2004 when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose party has its roots in Turkey's Islamic movement, accused Israel of state terrorism in an interview with Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper.

Asked whether he considered Israel's actions against the Palestinians "state terrorism," Erdogan responded: "How else can you interpret it?"

Relations thawed after both Gul and Erdogan visited Israel last year, expressing hope that Turkey could act as a mediator between Israel and the Muslim world.

But Deniz Baykal, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party, said yesterday that the visit by the Hamas delegation would damage Turkey's image severely. "It would lead to questioning of Turkey's determination against violence and terrorism in the world," Baykal told a news conference. "It would have grave consequences for Turkish foreign policy."

Ilnur Cevik, editor in chief of The New Anatolian newspaper, said Turkey should have kept its contacts with Hamas silent and avoided contact with Mesha'al. "But it seems someone in Ankara couldn't resist the temptation to conduct the contacts with Hamas so openly and thus win points with the conservative masses of Turkey, who have deep sympathies for the Palestinian cause," Cevik said

The Foreign Ministry on Thursday said the Hamas delegation was allowed to visit Turkey "as the representatives of a group which won elections," as part of Turkey's efforts to further peace process. "If Turkey doesn't get the clout of the EU behind itself and can't arm itself with the consent of the US and Israel, then how it can perform the function as 'interlocutor valuable'," asked Cengiz Candar, a political analyst with The New Anatolian.

"It, all of a sudden, may find itself in the awkward position of promoting Hamas rather than playing such a role."