[An Nahar] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a
lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
held talks with Turkey's leaders on the Syria crisis Friday amid a row over controversial comments by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan branding Zionism a "crime against humanity."
"Obviously we disagree with that, we find it objectionable," Kerry said at a joint presser in Ankara, referring to a speech delivered by Erdogan that likened Zionism to fascism
...a political system developed in Italy symbolized by the Roman
fasces-- thin reeds, each flimsy in itself but unbreakable when bound into a bundle. The word is nowadays thrown around by all sorts of people who have no idea what they're talking about...
and anti-Semitism.
Kerry said he would raise the issue "very directly" with Erdogan and express Washington's hopes to see the two "vital allies" work together.
The top U.S. diplomat's visit came a day after Washington announced that it would for the first time provide direct aid to Syrian rebels in the form of food and medical supplies as well as $60 million in extra assistance to the political opposition.
But the discussions were overshadowed by renewed tension between Turkey and Israel, two major Washington allies, following comments Erdogan made earlier this week at a U.N.-sponsored forum in Vienna.
"As is the case for Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism, it is inevitable that Islamophobia
...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do...
be considered a crime against humanity," Erdogan said on Wednesday.
Kerry said it was essential for Turkey and Israel to rekindle their "historic cooperation" but the situation got more complicated "in the aftermath of the speech that we heard in Vienna."