Turkish commentators: Fix relations with Israel
Amidst growing tensions between Jerusalem and Ankara, popular local newspaper journalist says 'Turkish government anti-Semitic.' 'We overreacted,' Turkish statesman claims. Meanwhile, local paper reports weapons seized in al-Qaeda suspects raid
While relations between Jerusalem and Ankara deteriorate daily, along with incitement on the local television other voices are being heard in the Turkish capital. Turkish daily Hurriyet published Thursday calls from journalists and senior statesmen to fix the damage that has been caused to the relations between Israel and Turkey.
At the same time, further details were released regarding the arrest of an al-Qaeda terror squad that planned attacks on Israeli targets in the country.
"The Turkish government is twisting the knife. They control the TRT channel and the series, and can do with it what they wish," said Burhan Ayeri from the Aksam newspaper, who was referring to the TV series depicting bloodthirsty soldiers shooting Palestinian children.
Ayeri said the Turkish government is anti-Semitic and believes that "these types of programs are misleading and shaping public opinion."
He was joined by former Foreign Minister İlter Türkmen who said that the TV series is hardly the only one to blame. Türkmen believes that the problem lies in the fact that TRT, the channel which broadcasts the show, is state-sponsored. "The matter has tapped into sensitive issues with Israel," he said.
"We should be cautious, so as not to insinuate anti-Semitic feelings. In general we should avoid anything which can be construed as racist," Türkmen added.
'We overreacted'
The former foreign minister also commented, "The series creates nervousness among people, there's already a certain level of racism in Turkey – and these types of shows only inflame it." Türkmen also noted that in his opinion Turkey is able to improve relations with Israel and commented that Israel has been cautious in its response. "They (Israelis) didn't overreact and it shows they care about relations with Turkey. We did overreact."
On the other side, Çağdaş Günerbüyük, daily Evrensel’s movie and television critic, claimed that the series does not depict an exaggerated picture of the Israeli army or spreads hatred. "I wasn't aware that there was a problem with showing the Israeli army 'pretend-kill' innocent civilians – because it does do it. This is not portrayed only on TV shows but also in the new reports," he said.
Israel has criticized the airing of the program and summoned the acting Turkish ambassador for a reprimand. Israeli prime minister and foreign minister referred to the show as "incitement" and Netanyahu went as far as to ponder the way Turkey is headed.
The Turkish columnist also said that Israel's response was unjustified and claimed that Jerusalem was putting pressure on other countries. "Their PR campaign and sending back the ambassador are a part of that effort," he said.
While Israeli-Turkish tensions are rising, Turkish security forces on Thursday detained 32 suspected members of the militant group al-Qaeda believed to have been planning attacks on NATO, US and Israeli targets who were arrested in raids across eight counties.
Hurriyet reported that during the raids documents, computers and even weapons were seized.
