15levels Posted June 26, 2004 Report Share Posted June 26, 2004 Paper says Turkish FM leaked Mossad, Kurd story By Zvi Bar'el ANKARA - Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is the source of the leak to New Yorker correspondent Seymour Hersh that dozens of Israeli Mossad agents are ostensibly in northern Iraq. The reliable Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet yesterday stated that Gul, along with two advisers and a spokesman, had a breakfast meeting with Hersh on May 27, on which occasion he gave the information to Hersh. Official Turkish spokesmen denied the report in Jumhurriyet, dismissing it as "a report by an opposition paper," but sources at the paper insisted the report is "correct, verified, and approved by highly informed sources." Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani categorically denied Hersh's report on Wednesday. Turkish sources yesterday confirmed to Haaretz that despite the denials, official Turkey still does not completely believe that no Israeli agents are present in northern Iraq. According to these sources, Israeli and Turkish officials held talks over the past year regarding the possibility of cooperation with the Kurds. The Israeli side indeed declared that any cooperation of this kind would only occur in coordination with Turkey and not behind its back. However, "Turkish sensitivity to the possibility that Israel would exploit an opportunity prevents the Turkish government from relaxing. Perhaps that is why, if it was indeed Gul who passed on the information, his sole purpose was to nip the idea in the bud," they said. In any event, Israel has made it clear to Turkey that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided not to open a channel of cooperation with the Kurds. For now, that decision is blocking proposals submitted by Israeli intelligence officials to Sharon to try to reestablish the connection with the Kurds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormig Posted June 26, 2004 Report Share Posted June 26, 2004 That article looks like it is written by two people and not proofread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
15levels Posted June 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2004 Isnt this time for Israel start improving its relationship with Armenia and start using "G" word in reference to 1915? --------------- > today's Haaretz Erdogan's Israeli dilemma By Zvi Bar'el ANKARA - Turkey crafts its policies toward the Israel-Palestinian dispute through the prism of its own problematic relationship with the Kurds. Consider, for example, the way a senior figure from the Justice and Development Party, the pan-Islamic party that has a dominant stake in Turkey's political arena, describes the following dilemma: "Turkey opposes the establishment of an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq. It will oppose any form of political autonomy for the Kurds. This was always Turkey's policy, and it did not change when our party came to power." This being Turkey's official attitude, it comes as no surprise that the diplomatic effort made by one Kurdish leader, Jalal Talbani, who traveled last week to Ankara in an attempt to persuade Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to change his country's policies, led nowhere. Turkey's political establishment is beginning to wonder whether the Americans might lose control of events in Iraq. "If the U.S. starts to withdraw and become self-involved, and should its policies in Iraq lose consistency, how can we be sure that we won't face a situation in another week or two in which the Kurds declare that they have established an independent state?" asks a top ranking Justice and Development Party foreign policy adviser to Erdogan. To preempt such a scenario, Turkey needs to forge an alliance of supporters in Europe; also, Iran, Syria and other Arab states will be asked by Turkey to withhold support for an independent Kurdish state. "Here we reach a dilemma that is almost philosophical," says the senior Justice and Development figure. "And this has a connection with the Israeli context. I am aware that it's possible to ask why we support an independent Palestinian state and oppose an independent Kurdish state, and why we oppose Israel's policies in the territories and yet act, at least in theory, according to the same policy guidelines?" If truth be told, the issue is not purely theoretical: Turkey has razed hundreds of Kurdish villages, and cast hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of persons from their places of residence to other regions in the country. It imposed restrictions on Kurdish political activists, and conducted violent search operations within northern Iraq. As in Israel's case, all this was done in the name of the war on terror. "Policy has changed now," says the same Justice and Development politician. "Kurds have more rights, and we are making an effort to promote development plans in Kurdish areas of the state. But none of this is the main point: we will not let an independent Kurdish state come into being. To reinforce this policy, we need to tighten relations with states that might help us maintain the policy" - this means Arab states and Iran. Winning such support means paying a price. To prevent a Kurdish state from coming into being, Turkey believes it must support a Palestinian state - that is, to win Arab support for the policy opposing a Kurdish state, Turkey must articulate support for a Palestinian state. This means that denunciations of Israel's policies have become a staple of discourse in the Turkish government. Such censure of Israel goes beyond vehement statement made by Erdogan in his interview with Haaretz, and in Turkey's parliament. According to Israeli sources, "ill winds" are blowing in the corridors of power in Turkey. Many efforts involving Israel are delayed; it is hard for Israeli officials to get appointments with Turkish counterparts; and there are harsh, anti-Israel statements in Turkey's media. "There's an understanding among us that anyone who wants to attain a policy goal in Iraq must win Arab support for this; and that means stepping on Israel's toes," says one Turkish government official. Do these considerations and dynamics portend damage to the core of relations between the two countries? "It depends how you define `core'," says one well-placed Turkish source. "Economic and military relations won't be damaged, but the concept of strategic partnership, which includes a number of psychological elements, is likely to erode." The source continues: "And this trend has some justification: given that you [israel] refuse to relate to Turkey's offer to play the role of mediator; and when we hear that Israel ridicules Turkey's ability to influence the area; and when Israel's arrogant perception of Turkey relying on it, or the Jewish lobby in Washington, becomes part of the discussion, what do you expect? Sometimes it seems as though all the Arab states treat Turkey with more respect than does Israel." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DominO123 Posted June 28, 2004 Report Share Posted June 28, 2004 The reliable Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet ... Is this an oxymoron? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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