Israel withdraws diplomats from Turkey after violent protests

Israel announced yesterday to withdraw part of their diplomatic staff and their families after a night of violent protests in Istanbul and Ankara against military offensive in Gaza. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, said it will reduce to a minimum the presence and accused Turkey of a “gross violation of diplomatic norms and the Vienna Convention, which requires a country to give protection to the foreign envoys in its territory. “

During the morning, several people jumped the fence and broke several windows of Israeli Consulate in Istanbul with stones and sticks, while protesters chanted slogans against Israel. Finally, the police dispersed a protest using tear gas and water cannons.

In the capital, Ankara, demonstrators threw stones and broke several windows of the residence of the Israeli Ambassador in addition to hanging a Palestinian flag in the home. Police prevented from entering the garden of the residence but did not stop them to throw stones, as reported by the local press.

All Turkish political parties share the opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza and in fact, several members participated in the protest in Ankara. “The Israeli bombarding invasion in Palestine has caused bloodshed in recent days ” said the demonstrators Murat Yildirim, deputy of the ruling Justice and Development. For his part, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Israel is trying to conduct a “systematic genocide” in Gaza.

In recent years, relations between Turkey and Israel have been marked by a series of ups and downs. Already in December 2008 Erdogan criticized Israel’s offensive in Gaza. But relations hit their lowest point in June 2010, after the Israeli assault on a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid bound for Gaza, in which 10 Turkish activists died.

The situation had been improving gradually, especially after the public apology for the deaths by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in March 2013. In recent months, it seemed that relations would normalize after the agreement Israel last February to pay 23 million dollars in compensation to the families of victims of the flotilla led by the Mavi Marmara ship, even if such payment has not yet been made.

“The truth is that the political rhetoric of Erdogan does not agree to the Israeli public, but both countries have trade relations amounting to more than 5,000 million dollars,” says Gabriel Mitchell, coordinator of the Israel -Turkey program at the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policy. ” So both sides are keen to return to some level of diplomatic recognition, although this relationship has historically depended on the situation between Israelis and Palestinians.”

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Posted by Khalil Khan on Jul 20 2014. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.