A military and economic alliance with Egypt is set to be signed by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The deal should be clinched when Erdogan visits Cairo next Monday - the first such visit paid by a Turkish prime minister in 15 years.The alliance is not intended as "Dire Revenge™" against Israel; Erdogan's intention is to extend Turkey's influence to areas it has not reached in past decades.
| In other words, another step toward reestablishing the Ottoman sultanate. Revenge on Israel is just a lagniappe. |
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
, Egypt rejected Turkish overtures; Mubarak viewed Erdogan as an interloper in regions that were under Egypt's, and Soddy Arabia's, influence. The new Egyptian government, however, seems eager to develop economic and strategic ties with Turkey.
| "Ya got money? C'mon over!" |
| It sounds like Israeli businessmen will be finding new arrangements, though. They know how the Turks treat their own, dhimmified Jews, and have other options. |
"We agreed to defer release of the report for a few weeks, but not for six months, as Netanyahu wanted," one senior Turkish official explained. "We could have discussed issues regarding the text's formulation, and even forged an agreement, but Israel's leak of the document broke all the rules."
| Y'all were being the consummate arrogant Islamist ass -- there are consequences for that. |
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday...
some members of the party have doubts about specific steps taken by Erdogan.
"Sometimes the prime minister acts on gut feelings, and then later tries to repair what he's done," explained one member of parliament who asked to remain anonymous. "But you have to distinguish between Turkey's widespread support for the demand that Israel apologize and pay compensations, and criticism about the country's diplomatic procedures. We were the ones who demanded that an international investigatory panel be formed; we send a delegate, and now we must come out and challenge the panel's conclusions. The report does not order Israel to apologize; instead it merely recommends that Israel express regret. In other words, there is a need to discuss the matter with Israel and work out acceptable language," the parliamentarian said.
Turkey's media is divided in its response to Erdogan's actions regarding Israel. "Was there really a war that we have to win?" asked Murat Yetkin, a prominent journalist for Hurriyet Daily News. "The answer to this question is simple. No, there is no such war."
Yusuf Kanli, former editor of the Turkish Daily News, wrote that, "were the Turkish government to respond to developments in the Middle East with a less emotional, non-religious attitude, relations between Israel and Turkey would not degenerate to their current state."
In contrast, Prof. Aysan Dey from Ankara suggested that Israel ought to get used to the fact that this is a "new Turkey," that Israel must realize this is not the 1990s when Israel maintained working relations with the Turkish government and the Turkish army, "and showed disdain for what the public really wanted."
Recently, the foreign policy of the "new" Turkey suffered a blow when Syria ignored Turkey's "advice," and when Iran decided to criticize the Turks for their policy toward Syria.
| *Snicker* |