U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says comments by Turkey's Erdogan equating Zionism to crime against humanity are 'objectionable.'
U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry at a news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu, not pictured, at Ankara Palace in Ankara, March 1, 2013.
Photo by AP
Speaking at a news conference in Ankara with Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu, Kerry stressed the "urgent need to promote a spirit of
tolerance, and that includes all of the public statements made by all
leaders."
Kerry said he had raised the comments "very directly" with Davutoglu
and would do the same when he saw Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
later on Friday.
Addressing the UN Alliance of Civilizations conference in Vienna this
week, Erdogan complained of prejudices against Muslims. He said
Islamophobia should be considered a crime against humanity "just like
Zionism, like anti-Semitism and like fascism."
Kerry said the on the U.S. side, "we not only disagree with it, we found it objectionable."
He added: "I believe there is a way forward, but it obviously gets more
complicated in the aftermath of a speech such as the one we heard in
Vienna."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also sharply condemned the remark
late Thursday, calling it a "dark and mendacious statement, the likes of
which we thought had passed from the world." The United Nations joined
the criticism.
Davutoglu at the news conference with Kerry denied that Turkish
officials were uttering hostile or offensive language. He repeatedly
referred to the deaths of nine civilians at the hands of Israeli
commandos aboard a Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship in 2010.
He added: "If Israel wants to hear positive statements from Turkey, it
needs to review its attitude. It needs to review its attitude toward us,
and it needs to review its attitude toward the people in the region and
especially the West Bank settlements issue."
Kerry said that despite the comments, he was hopeful Turkey and Israel
could eventually find a way to restore their previously close relations.
The uproar has overshadowed Kerry's previously planned visit to the
Turkish capital, where he had hoped to spend much of his time discussing
the crisis in neighboring Syria and coordinating plans with the Turks
to assist the Syrian opposition, which is fighting to oust President
Bashar Assad.
The deterioration of Turkish-Israel relations has been a matter of deep
worry for the U.S., which has unsuccessfully sought to push the two
countries to get back on friendly terms.
Turkey and Israel were once important allies, but relations deteriorated sharply after the 2010 raid.
Turkey is a co-sponsor, along with Spain, of the UN initiative to
promote tolerance and understanding between various religions.
A UN statement said: "If the comment about Zionism was interpreted
correctly, then it was not only wrong but contradicts the very
principles on which the Alliance of Civilizations is based."
The statement said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon "believes it is
unfortunate that such hurtful and divisive comments were uttered at a
meeting being held under the theme of responsible leadership."
Turkey's state-run news agency, Anadolu, reported Erdogan's remarks on
Wednesday but removed the reference to "Zionism" in a correction sent
out an hour later. It said the correction was "made by the source" but
gave no other explanation.
Erdogan, whose ruling party has roots in Turkey's Islamic movement,
frequently criticizes Israeli actions against Palestinians but rarely
speaks out against Zionism. In November, he accused Israel of state
terrorism and of an "attempt at ethnic cleansing," a euphemism that
describes using violence to force a population to flee an area.
Kerry is in NATO ally Turkey on the fourth leg of a nine-nation dash
through Europe and the Middle East that is his first official overseas
trip as secretary of state. Kerry has spent much of his time at his
first three stops … Britain, Germany and Italy … focusing on the
conflict in Syria.
Kerry's first stop in Ankara on Friday was the U.S. Embassy where he
spoke at a memorial service for a local Turkish security guard who was
killed in a Feb. 1 suicide attack at the embassy gates. Kerry presented
the man's family with an award for heroism.
From Turkey, Kerry will travel to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates and Qatar before returning to Washington in the middle of next
week. COPY http://www.haaretz.com/new
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