It was in the end all about dinner. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked off the stage at Davos when the moderator of a discussion, David Ignatius, refused to allow him sufficient time to respond to the long and vituperative attempted justification of his country’s Gaza massacre by Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Ignatius, who was a strong supporter of Iraq war, protested lamely that the evening meal was waiting. That the audience felt this excuse ridiculous was evidenced by the applause Erdogan received as he stalked angrily off the stage, vowing not to bother with Davos any more. Peres did not help by taunting the Turkish premier by asking him the oft-repeated silly question: How he would feel if Istanbul were being hit by “rockets”. There is, however, far more at stake here than a spat over speaking time. Turkey has long been a quiet friend of Israel with, in particular, military and intelligence links that date back to the 1970s. More importantly, for much of last year the Turks were playing middlemen in peace talks between Syria and Israel. There was a strong possibility that these negotiations could move on early this year to a direct meeting between Syrians and Israelis, chaired by Turkey.
The Gaza assault stopped this process dead. It was not just that it was impossible for Damascus to countenance such a face-to-face meeting. Ankara also was no longer prepared to play honest broker in an encounter where the Israeli side had thrown aside the sheep’s clothing to reveal itself as the ferocious wolf it has always been.
Turkey, like virtually every other country around the world, has been horrified at Israeli savagery in Gaza. This was clear from the spontaneous demonstrations of support and congratulations that greeted Erdogan when he flew in to Istanbul airport from Switzerland Thursday night. Peres had been given 25 minutes to try and defend the indefensible in Gaza and Erodgan had been permitted just a couple of minutes in which to rebut the Israeli’s special pleading.
If Peres had intervened to insist that the Turkish premier be allowed to give a full response to what he himself had said, Turkish-Israeli relations might not have been so wounded. As it was, he allowed Erdogan to leave and threw in his taunts for good measure. The Turkish military may seek to keep channels open to their Israeli counterparts, but on the wider diplomatic front, the crime of Gaza and the muzzling of Erdogan by Ignatius at Davos may have brought about a sea change in Turkish policy toward Israel. Of course, the Israeli-Turkish ties were always extremely limited, something between two governments. The Turkish public was never enthusiastic about this friendship and now there will be less patience or tolerance toward an Israel that has sunk to new lows of barbarity toward the Palestinians.
Erdogan said the Israeli president was loud in his Davos protestation to cover up the crime of Gaza. A Norwegian politician speculated it was more likely a reflection of Israel’s international isolation. Both are true. With Turkey’s anger, Israel’s isolation will only grow.
