Turkey Inside Line: New Anti-PKK Equipment; Waiting for an Apology from Israel

According to the Turkish daily Milliyet, Turkish officials want to buy the BiScopic Protection System for use against members of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) crossing the border from Iran, Syria and especially Iraq. This radar system has both visual and thermal cameras selecting small images up to 1 megapixel.

Meanwhile, according to Israel's Yedioth Ahronot, a senior Turkish diplomat has said that an apology letter, covering tensions in Israeli-Turkish relations, was written jointy by Israeli Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer  and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu at their secret meetings this spring. The official said that the letter was sent to the Israeli government to be approved but barred by a minister.

When the Ben-Eliezer meeting with Davutoglu was revealed, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called it a blow to his trust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Turkish diplomat stated that Israel had made an important step by supporting the UN investigation committee into May's raid on the Freedom Flotilla and added that Ankara is still looking forward to an awaiting apology letter and a compensation amount to the families of nine dead activists. The diplomat continued:

People's memories are short. They forget Erdogan's visit to Israel and Israeli President Shimon Peres' talk in the Turkish Parliament (TBMM). If there had been an anti-Israeli policy, would we have done these? We are in a weird situation because of this between two friends. If Israel was an enemy, we would not mind and if our aim was to cut the ties, we would have done it already!

Comments

[Catherine]

Amir,
Well that's one helluva "Keeping Them Honest" article. Thanks for posting it. Ali - have you read it? If so, what do you think?

RE what Ms Berlinski writes: "Last year, in protest, the front page of Cumhuriyet was left blank but for the words: "If we go silent, who will speak?" I don't recall seeing this reported anywhere in the international press."

I don't know what she had in mind when she said 'the international press', but IPS, a large and very well-respected news agency did mention this (lots of foreign ministries, aid organisations, NGOs and international organisations subscribe to IPS):
Freedom of Expression Under Attack
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45986

Not to seem to be on a "Turkey-bashing" spree, but here's another issue that I think we have to keep on the front burner:

Turkey’s Silent Crisis
Tensions between the government and the country’s Kurdish minority are threatening to explode like never before. And the collateral damage may include the Obama administration’s foreign policy.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/08/31/turkey_s_silent_crisis?page=full

[Dreamer]

Keep up the nice work, added to my opera rss.