Sinking Between Both Marmaras: Turkish- “Israeli” Relations Reach Bottom

Time: Monday, May 31, 2010 4:30 A.M.

Place: International waters near beseiged Gaza Strip

Within minutes red blood covered the blue flotilla and the result: nine Turkish peace activists were dead, shot by the "Israeli" Soldiers. Scores of others were injured and the Turkish- "Israeli" relations enter the nadir state.

Within hours, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described the scene as a "bloody massacre" calling the Zionist Entity as a "state build on terrorism."

"Humanitarian and Islamic organizations to the right of the governmental party were behind Marmara-1. However, after the massacre last year, it was ordinary that the Turkish government completely adopted and supported its people." Director of the Center for Strategic Studies in Beirut and analyst specialized in Turkish-"Israeli" relations Dr. Mohammad Noureddine said to moqawama.org.

The reaction in Turkey was furious. Angry crowds gathered in cities to chant against Zionism. Public opinion blamed the "Israeli" government for the high death toll. "All Turkish population is angry of the Zionist attack. They carry emotions of hatred and wrath to "Israel" and its policies in the region." Noureddine confirmed.

After an enthusiastic business, tourism and military partnership in the 1990s, Turkey, and "Israel" have entered unexplored new territory. "Relations standstill for the UN international investigation committee set up last summer didn't publish yet its final report. However, the government is waiting to finish the parliamentary elections to deliver its position from relations with "Israel"." Noureddine pointed out, adding that "the Turkish government can never neglect people's pulse against "Israel" and if it is to go back into relations with the Israeli government the latter must pay the price."

The "Israeli" raid on Marmara flotilla's attempt was only the most egregious shock to a relationship which had been deteriorating since early 2009.

At the Swiss ski resort of Davos, Erdoğan entered into a clash of words with the Zionist President Shimon Peres, telling him "that "Israelis" know well how to kill", before he walked away.

Mean while, Erdoğan strongly repeated his view that Hamas is a resistance movement and not a terrorist organization and that it won elections fair and square and that it ought to be treated accordingly. "Turkey is trying to play a pastoral role to the present turnings and revolutions in the region." Noureddine explained.

Few months later, the relations came close to a breaking point when Israel's deputy foreign minister tried to humiliate the Turkish ambassador by sitting him on a low sofa and then bragging about this before television cameras. That crisis was brought to an end only after "Israel" issued a formal apology.

An apology that "Israel" still refuses to deliver on Marmara and the result: Five hundred thousand application forms have been submitted in order to join the second Marmara flotilla heading for Gaza in the final week of next June.

"The "Israeli" position is still vague although they have more than once warned that they won't allow this fleet to reach Gaza," the analyst told our website clarifying that "if the "Israeli" government wants to take into consideration its relation with Turkey and the try to correct it, a compromise must be applied especially that the Turkish foreign minister Ahmad David Oglo had warned the "Israelis" not to repeat their last year mistake. "