is proud of him except the criminally left.

and bowed down to do it. Foolish. In denial. Needs a long vacation.

You mean ethnically cleansed Armenia. And who helped the Ottomans to do so? The innocent Kurds. Your grand-fathers were proud members of the Hamidiye Brigades, which killed, raped burned down Armenians and their property. The Kurds were always brave paladines of the Turks. They cleansed that what they call Kurdistan from Christians, Yezidis etc. I do not want to deny the right of Kurds to live in peace and to enjoy their rights, which every democracy must ensure for its minorities. But there are much more minorities in Turkey, which deserve rights. Do the Kurds offer alternatives for a better Turkey for all citizens of Turkey? No! The Kurds live in a separate world. By the way! Some of the writers above are no Kurds. Who the hell is Mazul Dogan? If you mean Mazlum Dogan (originated from Tunceli (Dersim), Turkey) it is another subject.

I noticed that many Kurds from what they call Kurdistan and North Kurdistan (They mean south East Turkey) started to post here using this opportunity of latest bad relations between Israel and Turkey. Some of you Turkish friends were saying that Israel needs Turkey but Turkey does not need Israel. If this was true I challenge you Hodri Meydan, cut all relationship. But the facts are different. Modern Turkey (I don't mean the Yobaz section) and Israel need each other. Even the Islamist AKP quitely understands that and the Turkish PM who often talks and acts without mush thinking this time realized that he went too far and gave Barak a proper welcome. My dear friends, We both face the threat of terrorism and need to fight it no matter how difficult it is. It is useless to blame each other such as Turks blaming Israel for cast lead and Israelis blaming Turkey for the mass graves in Cyprus etc. These are wars the both sides did not chose but forced as a form of last resort of defense. I hope the failures of 2009 will be an example to both sides and start acting in a rational way this new year of 2010. As Ataturk said YIURRTA SULH CIHANDA SULH. Peace.

I work with Kurdish legal and illegal immigrants in the UK as part of my job. They are among the worst anti-Semitics I've ever seen. They hate anything Turkish, they hate Turkish restaurants, Turkish football team, Turkish people and so on. Though, the moment Erdogan began to attack Israel, Kurds embraced him and his anti-Israeli attitudes. Now, most Kurds I know champion Erdogan. Both religious Kurds and left or PKK orientated Kurds are all anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic. I wouldn't trust them at all. As for who funds PKK, I worked in France, Switzerland and the UK, and I saw in all these countries PKK could organize fundraising works freely. PKK wasn't ruled as a terrorist organization in Europe until a few years ago, Europe has had long love affairs with terrorists like Hamas, Hizballah, PKK. To be honest, I would prefer law abiding Arab Israelis and even peaceful Palestinians to Kurds.

1. Most kebak houses and Turkish restaurants in Europe are owned by Kurds and employ illegal / legal Tirkish Kurds. I believe the sofra restaurants in London also employ illegal Turkish immigrants (heard the waiters talking in Turkish there once about one of their friends being caught). 2. The European left is a big supporter of Kurdish causes. Just like they support Hamas against Israel they support PKK against Turkey. This is a very good reason why Turkey and Israel should be close allies instead of enemies. (eg: A PKK terrorist Fahriye Erdal, charged for killing a Turkish businessman is protected by the Belge left and given refuge in the homes of left wing prominent politicians and university professors from ULB - Univercite Libe Bruxelles) 3. Most Turkish Kurds connected to PKK ar otr at least act as anti-Semites and anti USA (in Contrast to Iraqi Kurds) and Mazlum Der which demonstrated for the arrest of Barak is also an ultra Islamist organization tied to PKK. 4. Many Turkish Kurds living in the west of Turkey, well educated and Intellectual (such as Baskin Oran) are not anti-Semites. I worked for a very big company owned by a Kurd with most high level employees being Kurd in Istanbul from 1975 to 1979. I never saw any anti-Smitism. In fact they had very good relations with Alarko, Profilo all Jewish businesses. So it cannot be generalized. There are great people in Turkey of all backgrounds, Muslim, Jewish, Greek, Armenian etc and some taht are so badly educated that still live with a middle age mentality. We must be able to separate the stem from teh hay as they say in Turkish. Work closely with the elite so that they can educate the underdeveloped section of the society.

Persecuted Kurds resent that Israel helps Turkey.

Thanks David for further information. I assume you lived in Turkey. -I know Sofra/Ozer restaurants, they are Turkish. They are located in central London and they are not connected with Kurdish community. Actually, one Sofra restaurant was recently in the news here in Britain as PKK attacked them to force them to pay 'fee' to the PKK! This is one of the tools PKK uses to fundraise: to force Turkish and Kurdish businesses to pay to PKK. And what do the European states do to stop this? Not much really. -That's an interesting note what you wrote about a PKK terrorist given a refuge in the homes of politicians and professors in Belgium! Though, I must say I am not surprised. I've seen far too many European leftists who were wearing Hizballah t-shirts and fundraise for Hizballah during 2006 war. I'm afraid in European minds Hamas, Hizballah, El-Aksa Brigades, PKK and other terrorists will always be heros. Some Europeans support them because they buy the propaganda against Israel or Turkey; and some Europeans support them for plain racism and anti-Semitism. It is only after 9/11 and 7/7 in London, Europeans began to understand what terrorism is. -I don't know much about all Kurds in Turkey. But I know about legal and illegal Kurdish immigrants in the UK. Most are from Turkey and they are affiliated with PKK. There are also many Kurds from Iraq here. I already wrote my bitter experiences with them above. -I agree with you, Israel and Turkey should continue to be close allies, even though it seems a bit hard with current Erdogan leadership in Turkey. I don't trust the Middle East and I don't trust Europe either. We must be careful in this neighborhood. It's just surprising for me that most Turks that I meet are not anti-Israeli, they seem friendly with Israelis, they are not radicals and they are peaceful. But their current government and TV show propagandas are making me worry about Turkish-Israeli relations.

Mrs. Erdal is a DHKP/C terrorist, not PKK. They are definitely pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel.

Firstly, no one in Turkey said Turkey does not need Israel. As H.E. Vecdi Gonul said our interests overlap and we need each other. Secondly, can you please clarify as to what you mean by "yobaz section". Do you mean devout Turkish muslims or those radical Islamic terrorists such as hiz-bul tariq etc? Because I have a devout muslim grandmother (with a head scarf) who has a jewish daughter in-law. And no, she did not try and convert her to Islam but rather encourages her to practice her religion-judaism. Please do not make the mistake of portraying all Turkish muslims as anti-jewish/anti-Israeli. The majority of us can distinguish between good and bad people. We don't distinguish on the basis of religion or ethnicity. Thirdly, Turkey will always afford the Israeli Statesmen a 21 gun salute/welcome. Why? We have no problems with the State of Israel. In fact, Turkey and Israel have a Military pact treaty signed under Her Excellency Tansu Ciler's government. It stipulates that each is to come to the aid of the other when one is attacked. So I don't know why people on both sides act like we are on the brink of war when we have little political rifts like the recent one. Perhaps there are many out there that would like the alliance between our two countries declared dead. I don't know. When Israel has issues with the US there is no question as to the trust between the two but when Turkey and Israel have a disagreement, its like "not those muslims again...they can never be trusted". This ideology needs to be changed. We have no loyalty issue.

I do not consider anyone who believes in Islam really understands it and practices it in peace and without conflict with the modern world as Yobaz. Those who use Islam as a political mean, to gain political power are yobaz and in my opinion do not even respect Islam. As I said it before, in a democracy the state provides laws for everyone granting basic human rights legal needs applicable to every citizen. Each citizen is free to obey or not to obey any religious law. In a sheria state - as it is in Iran, Saudi Arabia, parts of Nigeria - there is only one law and it is what Islam dictates. Women are being subject to death by stoning - RECM - others are hung for being gay etc. PM Erdogan once had said that to them democracy was a vehicle _ a bus - Once they reach their destination - Have no doubt that this destination is sheria rule - they will get off the bus. This is the trademark of a Yobaz. Will do anything, lies, steel and deceive to get there. As far as the mutual defence pact, Israel stayed loyal to it when Turkey needed urgently 3 Herons in 2009 against PKK by sending them with Israeli staff to operate. In the past (Up to 2008) Turkey also stayed loyal to this by quietly allowing flight over Turkey to Israel to destroy the Syrian nuclear plant. However Erdogan has eroded the power of the Turkish military ever since with mythical accusations under ergenekon case. Today such a support from Turkey is impossible therefore that pact is not trustworthy for Israel. Yes there are those who would like the alliance between Israel and Turkey to be dead. Starting with Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas. All of these are now best friends of AKP government. So is it strange that people in Israel wonder?

Whilst I agree with some sections of your analysis, I don't quite agree with your statement that Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas are the only ones who would like to see the Turkish-Israeli Alliance dead. If you look deeper you will see that they are not the only ones and that there are also some western countries who want to see the alliance dead.

Gerry are you MAD? Ataturk founded Turkey in 1923 and after 1923 Armenians had the best of their lives in Turkey.He changed Ottoman Empire's horrible system and supported woman rights,art,science and PEACE.. He did not even cut a tree while making constructions.. Armenians who are living in Turkey right now all LOVE Ataturk and vote for his party CHP. I have a lot of Armenian friends and i love them, they are all beautiful people.. I RESPECT Armenians because i am supporting Ataturk's peaceful policy.. If you see a Turk who attacks on an Armenian believe me he or she is NOT a supporter of Ataturk. I think you are the one who should study... Please dont talk about someone who you dont know anything about.. And PLUS, he did not fight AGAINST Kurds, he fight WITH Kurds.. In 1924 Constituion of Turkey Ataturk gave the SAME rights to Turkish and Kurdish people.. No difference.. Kisses!