Who needs whom?

Submitted by NuritG (United States), Mar 29, 2013 at 17:29

In truth, this "huge victory" of Israel's apology exists only in Erdogan's mind. This apology formula that was finalized in a three-way phone call between himself, Netanyahu and Obama on Friday, March 22, was in fact put before Erdogan three months ago. Israel did not have to be persuaded to make this gesture and thus shelving the quarrel, as Erdogan claims, but it is Erdogan who refused to accept Israel's apology. In fact, Erdogan's hand was forced into reconciliation by Obama, the US president, just as Netanyahu's was. It is much swagger that the Turkish premier claims he is holding Israel on trial for making good on the conditions he laid down to her. In fact, Ankara is on trial in Washington: The next steps on the situation in Syria will be determined by President Obama and his choice between the Saudi-Jordanian-Abu Dhabi bloc and the Qatar-Turkish partnership for leading the Muslim-Arab front against Bashar Assad in Syria. But Erdogan prefers to keep his awkward position from becoming known to the Turkish public as well as Israel's response to Ankara's need for cooperation in essential fields.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".