Posted on 04/24/2012 4:37:52 PM PDT by SJackson
Israeli official: By blocking Israel's involvement in NATO events, Turkey also keeping 6 other regional countries from taking part.
Turkey’s opposition to Israeli participation in NATO events blocks the inclusion of six other regional countries, something irritating other NATO states and increasingly becoming a contentious issue inside the alliance, Israeli diplomatic officials said Monday.
According to the officials, the issue was raised last week at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. The officials denied Turkish media reports that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu blocked Israel’s participation in the NATO summit in Chicago at the end of May, saying that NATO decided weeks earlier not to invite its seven Mediterranean partners.
Nevertheless, the official acknowledges that NATO member Turkey is trying to block greater Israeli involvement in the alliance, but as a result is also stopping the participation in NATO meetings and workshops of Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.
These countries, along with Israel, make up a group of NATO partners called the Mediterranean Dialogue, a group created in 1994 to foster ties with Mideast countries. Other NATO countries, such as the US, are not willing to block Israeli participation in NATO programs, but let the other six countries of the group take part.
Earlier this year Turkey torpedoed an Israeli plan to contribute an Israel Navy missile ship to a NATO mission in the Mediterranean Sea called Active Endeavor, in what would have been the first time Israel actively participated in one of the Western military alliance’s operations.
The Hurriyet Daily News reported Monday that Davutoglu vetoed Israel’s participation at the summit in Chicago. The report quoted a senior Turkish official as saying “there will be no Israeli presence at the NATO meeting unless they issue a formal apology and pay compensation for the Turkish citizens their commandos killed in international waters.” The official was referring to the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident.
Israeli officials said that Israel’s participation in the Chicago parley was not the focus of the Brussels meeting. Rather, they said, Turkey came under criticism for trying to block greater Israeli participation in NATO, thereby denying the participation of the other countries as well.
The officials said the Turkish media gave the issue a much different “spin” because the Turkish government wanted to make it seem as if it was taking a “heroic stand” over the Mavi Marmara.
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It's my understanding several NATO nations are upset about this. The Great Satan defers to the Turks. Other articles, which include the questioning of the State Dept. official. Needless to say State has nothing to say about participation of the various Arab states also disinvited. That can probably be negotiated, after all. Don't want to offend the Arab Springers.
State Dept. Refuses to Support Israeli Participation in NATO Summit
as time passes it gets ever more obvious that the current US regime has no influence over events abroad and former allies are acclimating themsevles to the power vacuum
being filled locally.
/damn...forgot she did that to hurt America last time...nevermind.
just back from there, hardly. nine percent growth last year, cranes and construction dot the istanbul skyline, turkish air was spectacular, only question is, will they pursue free market capitalism or state=run socialism?
Ataturk left too big a vacuum and Islam is vicious and fervent. The secular void must be filled. We are having the same problem here in the US. The move to secularism has all kinds of deleterious effects.
I have no clue to what you mean. Ataturk drove Islam out from rule and formed a strong secular military to keep Islam (Religion) at bay. In the past few years Islam (religion) has seeped back into power. So are you saying secularism is bad for Turkey?
Why have NATO anymore? Russia will never again be a threat./s
Why have Turkey in NATO anymore? In the event of a threat to the other member nations, Turkey is liable to switch sides anyway. They like Jihad and Islamofascism? Let them go to them for their security, if they’re not too busy shooting up Syrians.
Just curious...how much do you know about the country,what makes it tick? I'm no expert...most of what I know comes from European newspapers (UK and Ireland).One thing that plays prominently is those papers is that the EU is refusing membership to the Turks and they,in return,are whispering "islamophobia".
If they're being denied membership by the EU you know there's gotta be *something* wrong...something that,perhaps,you're unaware of.
...officials denied Turkish media reports that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu blocked Israel's participation in the NATO summit in Chicago at the end of May... the official acknowledges that NATO member Turkey is trying to block greater Israeli involvement in the alliance, but as a result is also stopping the participation in NATO meetings and workshops of Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.The Islamofascists running Turkey are in a vise, and they know it. It is mostly of their own making. To mix metaphors, they are in a dump or get off the hopper moment.
Don’t try to make sense of what’s written here.
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