Israel refuses to apologize for intercepting the Gaza flotilla last year. Turkey recently expelled Israel’s ambassador and lowered its diplomatic pretense in Tel Aviv. The Turks warned about other steps. Well one of those steps is a naval showdown with Israel. The Turks plan to escort ships to Gaza with their naval ships.
The eastern Mediterranean will no longer be a place where Israeli naval forces can freely exercise their “bullying” practices against civilian vessels, a Turkish official said Friday.
The official said this would be the outcome of Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s statement earlier in the day that “Turkey would take every precaution it deems necessary for the safety of maritime navigation in the eastern Mediterranean.”
[….]
Using Turkish naval vessels to escort ships carrying aid to Palestine and observing free navigation in the zone between the island of Cyprus and Israel are among the plans set to be implemented, sources said, adding that Turkish war ships would be more frequently seen in the area.
[….]
Turkey sees the gas-exploration deal as an agreement between two hostile countries against Turkey and has urged both parties not to get involved in such a project before a solution is found to the Cyprus issue in order to preserve the stability of the eastern Mediterranean.
In an interview with daily Zaman on Friday, EU Minister Egemen Bağış hinted that Turkish Navy could intervene if Greek Cyprus does not call off the project. “That’s what a navy is for,” he said.
Turkey is not just threatening Israel, but the Greek Cypriots as well. The Turks are not bluffers. They have a 1000 year history of aggression and have a military based culture. the Israelis need to be on their A game against the Turks. They are brutal and genocidal. The Israelis must not hesitate to use all their weapons without mercy if a conflict breaks out.
Israel needs to be on alert over this Turkish threat.
Tags: AKP, Cyprus, Gaza Flotilla
